chanting in chinatown

chanting in Chinatown
by johannes bech dalsgaard
i remember Chinatown
everything changing hands so
quickly, everybody’s all smiles
but in Chinatown the smiles are
more noisy, more beeming, more
vocal – and yet
Chinatown’s not about words
it’s all motion
no walking in circles though and
no straight
lines – Chinatown
is an improvised fractal, rather,
it’s got the same musicality to it
too
so easy to sing along even though
you don’t know the lyrics and you’ve
certainly never heard it
before – or maybe
you have
but
every heartbeat rocks its foundation
makes buildings with unknown names
fall
and
re-
build
(you only notice this
i might add
out of the corner
of your eye) and it’s something else
altogether
new unique uniforms
new mantras, Chinatown is rants, chants
changed at the enduring blink
of an eye
new in its infinite oldness
worn for years, torn into
pieces
Chinatown is
plasma
and at the heat of fire
and the speed of light
a fish is caught mid-air
toads in buckets, holding what could be
their last breath
a mantric yell stopping dead
in it tracks on the way
to somewhere
i believe
these things
are supposed to bring luck
in Chinese
philosophy
and in a subtle kind of way
it sure does
Chinatown’s not the end of
the rainbow
but as they say
it’s the journey that matters
most