Pun and Punishment

water is torture

going without going under
not going across

going going gong

mickey mantle just hit a home run on the radio

what I am said to have said

in my sleep in my bed

who told?

they have written down

in the form of a confession

I am swimming, dog paddling to be precise,

in small discrete sea of uncooked rice

in a walled courtyard of a small country church

with a handful of guests waving

waving as from the shore

I have apparently cried out in my sleep

     I want to marry Marilyn, not Mei,

     but Marilyn from America

so they seized all of my books

except for the little red one

I must wear paper handcuffs

(and if I tear them then I’m clearly a rebel)

not because of my dreams

but because of my letter in

perfect English

I wrote my sister that

my cat took a long march

into my neighbor’s yard

and returned to my porch

to clean her hindquarters with her mousey tongue