No Third World
America, you need to hear it
There is no third world
which is barely disguised code for
what in the fifties we confidently
named the underdeveloped countries
meaning not like us
But there are many developments
I more developed
at solving cryptograms
and my wife, at deciphering people
America more developed
at exploring outer space --
where we see our own orb
as did St. Benedict Greg. Dial. 2.35, 4.7
a bright milky pearl
and Thailand at giving --
both rich and poor at dawn
lined up to place food
in the begging bowls of the monks
at the edge of the highway
There are many developments
America certainly more advanced
at developing email
Burmese at the mental development bhavana
which enables monks to read minds
Tibetans at curing cancer
with Precious Pills at the new moon
and Haitian dancers at walking
across hot coals without being burned
many yangs many yins
but if I had to choose
I would go with the Tao Te Ching
and aspire
to the condition of water Tao Te Ching, 8.20
From: Mosaic Orpheus, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009.