Mekong River

Adriana X. Jacobs

Tonight I moved between three beds 
like I was sailing on the Mekong 
and whispered the beauty of the Tigris and Euphrates 
under an endless moment 
looking 
under the left tit 
I have a hole 
and you fill it 
with other men. 
Notes of Tiger beer 
on your body.

Alone, 
crickets drone south of Laos. 
Showers of cold air from Hanoi 
the back gasps 
the tight ass, an ink stain on the belly. 
Sketch me a monochrome 
flow chart 
on fresh 
potted flowers. 
I’ll release roots at your feet, 
I want to come to puke specks 
of dust 
in my crotch. Rest your hand 
in my pants. Make it personal 
Who abandons an illness in open sea?


This poem is translated from the Hebrew, and appears in The Truffle Eye, the 2013 debut collection of poems by Vaan Nguyen.