Ekaku poem

before the single corn papyrus stalk
a nearly naked being being is pleading
(hands out and down palms up)
and although it looks nearly human
it is made from the soft sewn inksacs of snakes
it is a single bulging coil displaying a distorted arabesque
two large round glass orbs clasp its buttocks
and a single stylized stalk of wheat-head-calligraphy
arcs from its false achilles tendon ankle section
a scythe hangs liminal to its buttocks orb
so that its handle points up and the curve of the blade
echoes the shape of the buttocks' amendment
and at the end of the handle are 6 different birds
all centered spatially on the same point
though their bodies are rotated so that glimpses
of each bird remain intact or intacit
beyond the scythe-bird section there is another
vertical couple the upper figure corresponds
to the 6 bird body rotation figure and consists
to two blue glass botttles which fit into one another
most of one of the bottles performs as the foot
while most of the other bottle performs as the neck
one element is obscure the bottle of the lesser neck
is made to hang from the bottle of the greater neck
and both are made to balance on the gap between them
which is completed by the lower figure in the section
which is a tree saw made into a kneeling figure
so that its teeth become a stylized mane as with a lion
the bottles only balance symbolically but do not touch
the gap in the bottles being equivocal with the width
of a blade // behind this figure is a simpler one
top section: bone ring // middle section: crutch //
lower section: fish toy with large human legs
balancing on its fish nose and toes
("face down" and "without face")
after that comes the final figure which is larger
than all before it. there is a sense that all the figures
so far are actually the messages of this figure alone
this figure is a huge knotted black snake
sitting upright on a unicycle made from its own coils
it has arms which are crossed
but its head looks more like a narrow plank of wood
or a thumb peering over some bulk
of rippling skin or fur