[29. ARITHMETICAL]

36, because highly composite, square

triangular (3 line, 4 line) with 9 divisors,

9 being the sum of the 3 Confucian

Submissions, the 3 Prohibitions

and the 3 Fundamental Bonds.

36 + 9 = 47, of Avtomat

Kalashnikov note; introduce this

along Buddha’s 8-Fold Path, spanning

4 Truths and 5 Precepts, and we arrive at

the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching.

Now divine with 50 yarrow stalks.

Now divide by 10 Wings: 320.

Factor in the 4 Debts by 5 Relations

to unfailingly bring you low, this time

beneath the 17th, losing yourself to your M16,

Applying the 36 Stratagems. (576.)

Abnegate the 108 Buddhist Sins (468) for

49 full days beneath the Bodhi Tree (419).

Abandon 12 Zodiacs through 3 Temporals: 383.

Relinquish language too: 29 letters of

Chữ Quốc ngữ, 7 letters permutated with

4 diacritics; 5 diacritics of tone: 321.

Disavow all 5 Elements: 316.

Both the 2 Aspects: 314. 10 Fetters

squaring 10 Good Deeds. Leaving, at last:

214.—The number of Kangxi/Nôm radicals.

Upon which all articulations hinge.

From which all possibilities spring.

But is this all there is to it? At the end

of number—mere/more language?

Notes:

This poem is from a longer series called 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem.

Source: Poetry (March 2023)