Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Jane Gibian

Vietnamese bite

Vietnamese bite

Vietnamese bite

in your mouth you roll and taste
the classifier for fruit, shaping
the rounded rising syllable
also used for fruit-shaped objects:

a ball
               a bomb
                                 the earth

and run your tongue
along the sharp edges
of the classifier for objects
with flat surfaces:

a letter
              a photograph
                                          the wall

feel then the graceful classifier
for leaf-shaped and leaf-thin things:
it is the leaf itself
Close

Vietnamese bite

in your mouth you roll and taste
the classifier for fruit, shaping
the rounded rising syllable
also used for fruit-shaped objects:

a ball
               a bomb
                                 the earth

and run your tongue
along the sharp edges
of the classifier for objects
with flat surfaces:

a letter
              a photograph
                                          the wall

feel then the graceful classifier
for leaf-shaped and leaf-thin things:
it is the leaf itself

Vietnamese bite

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère