The Dreamer

I. potatoes

hungry bonfires

gaping dragon maws and red hot eyes

he slashes the earth, plays cat and mouse chasing

that final drop of sweat

his body is shaped by cicada years and freshly caught

crabs and the lack of chocolate

a taste he still does not enjoy

school comes first but

soccer follows and when he plays he can almost

kick the bridge of the moon

and take the ropes of moonlight

and bask in the celestial glory knowing that he is

a certified future and

when the game ends,

his hungry mind returns to

ember-fueled studies

piping-hot he burns the fields down

he consumes the sun to work

another day

II. trains

he goes to a place

untouched by his brothers and sisters

separated only by a few hundred miles and

the disappearance of fresh morning dew

he learns the taste of mapo tofu

spicy is new but so are the days of

closed doors in the library and open gates in the city

he becomes a new man,

meets mama and is wed in three months

plows through university

research in Hawai’i and purple sweet potatoes are good but

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