Shanxi Normal University, Linfen
I was quoting the Catholic catechism as
example today, speaking of education
and the Plymouth Brethren by quoting
question and answer from fifty years ago,
‘God made me, giving me a body and a soul.’
Thirty two Chinese students laughed loudly.
‘God made the world’ drew a bigger laugh.
They were laughing at my early beliefs
so I diverted to Halloween and
hollow-faced Jack-o’-lanterns. Out
the window, five flights down, Confucius
stood among withered roses, a scroll
of analects greying in
sulphur dioxide. It would’ve been better
had he written the Clean Air Act …
This is yet another draft or version of the Food and Faith poem I posted last week. I have excised seven lines from the poem and changed 'pumpkin-faced' to 'hollow-faced' as more evocative of shallowness and empty-headedness. I am still all at sea with this poem so any feedback is welcome. I hope my comments panels are tuned in to my Chinese email address: burkeandre(at)gmail(dot)com
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