--- D A V I D   K O E H N

My wife pays a park ranger for the extra car 
And though embarrassed by her broken 
English, she hounds the ranger for change. 

I try my Cantonese on her. 
“Hoe-how Hoe-hah,” I think I am asking 
For a Coca-Cola. She smiles. I have asked 

For a whore house.  She says, she “Never 
Expected to live like this, after Hong Kong.” 
She says, “We are living like the homeless.” 

I tell her, “Not like the homeless, honey, 
We’re camping.” My adopted son 
Erects a pyramid of pine cones, 

His rodent smile seethes with pyromania. 
Thirteen frightens us. Part King Tut, 
Part Willy Wonka he is jittery

With expectation of marshmallow. 
A beetle drops from the sky, my wife’s 
Daughter screams. She’s seen the Science 

Channel special on Japanese Hornets 
And Killer Bees, Locust Swarms
And Fire Ants. We are not safe. 

The beetle flits from rock to rock 
Around the fire pit: antennae, 
Like scepters, perform their ritual 

In the plastic, yellow flashlight’s flickering.
Translate, transcode, transmit, then send.
The constellations listen in, 

Rat, dog, monkey, rabbit, tiger. 
My daughter from a previous 
Marriage calls us over. Her nose 

Twitches, she stares down the beetle
And we fall in behind her, shoulder 
To shoulder, 2 blue eyes, 3 green, 

5 brown, 10 hands, 49.5 
Fingers, 2 penises, 3 vaginas, 
17 mosquito bites, 23 

Cavities, a universe of DNA 
And a flashlight. 
They are dog, monkey, rabbit, tiger, rat…