Eye On Zhongnanhai Poem by doug bentley

my tiny eye in the sky
sits squarely on zhongnanhai,
for o'er google earth it sprites
black shade cast, moon bright
bat signal: meanwhile, himalaya high
drums drum drummings tiger prowl
tiger howl; fearless symmetry-
tumbling warriors sacred duty who,
horning storms of pestilences before-
in advancing charge; next in rank-
beasts. burdens dropped to knee,
felled by matador lance stealthy,
oozing; oil fuel to lamp up
Beijing butchers. scalpel sever-
throats bloodshower stain
bullet richochets that bathe
tapestry halls built for Mao.

when beijing mastermind jiang zemin
built his steel wall round beijing
did he envision the isle of prison
his ilk, vomit, toxic hair, contagion
would now find themselves in?
at least zemin's tiny island prison
is a much more impressive construction
than the 3 or 4 mile long great
part of the Great Wall of Tourism!

for, in that long buried archaeological
rubble of mythic tales when Confucius
reigned and then put his countrymen
in a millenias long coma of boredom
kow-towing to each other ad nauseum
in the world's first verified
cure for incurable insomnia!