Two Goats

A Sequence for Maxine Hong Kingston

一 (yī)

Two goats ascending
   Mt. Fuji
Wearing flip flops

二 (èr)

A far cry
From the Pearl River Delta
And scrappy Stockton

三 (sān)

Woman Warrior
4 ft 9 inches tall
Teetering on kitten heels

四 (sì)

Feet bound for glory
Sorry, babe, that pun is
   Objectionable

五 (wuˇ)

Jason Momoa
   Shirtless
Unfurling his topknot!

六 (liù)

I say, again
   Jason Momoa
Shirtless
   Unfurling his topknot!

七 (qī)

Welcome to Gold Mountain
Gold Mountain so high
Gold Mountain so mighty

八 (bā)

Oh, the brow ridge of  Theodore
   Philtrum of  Abraham
          Sebum of Thomas

九 (jiuˇ)

We’ve arrived
No need to   rush   more

十 (shí)

Who wrote better verse?
Wounded warriors
Or solipsistic girl poets

十 一 (shí yī)

Sorry, Ting Ting
But they would not require
Your immanence

十 二 (shí èr)

Frankly speaking
The Monkey King
Is Whitman Ah Sing
On heroin

十三 (shí sān)

Uncouth    gold digger
Ruthlessly   pan-dering
   For a refrain

十四 (shí sì)

A forty-niner
At the end of the bar says
The game is rigged

十五 (shí wuˇ)

Oh, we love the stones beyond
   Laundromats
And quietude among chop suey joints

十 六 (shí liù)

He says:
   Your monolid eyes excite me
       Your pelli-pedal hooves complete me

十 七 (shí qī)

Brave Orchid walks into a bar
  He says: we don’t serve cymbidiums here

十八 (shí bā)

Moon Orchid walks into a bar
  How can you pay? You are scentless

十九 (shí jiuˇ)

A southern Baptist and an Anglican Buddhist, a rabbi, a hippie priestess walk into a bar ...
    What is this, a joke?

二十 (èr shí)

Poets
Are immortal

Notes:

This poem is part of the portfolio “Maxine Hong Kingston: Water to the Brim.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the April 2025 issue

Source: Poetry (April 2025)