"Ritual", Jerome Lim
Strange things happen when you say
Watain thrice. The cow on Coney Island
dies. Madmen begin to rave at Oxford.
The bus breaks down on the crooked bridge.
Lamp posts whisper in your ears. Eight-wheeled
vehicles are lost at sea. But what do I fear?
I fear the return of the orang laut.
I heard their brethren destroyed Kadesh.
That is why I keep ten joss sticks in my bag.
I have cut my nails at night and lived
to tell the tale: Watain, Watain, Watain.
Yesterday I signed up for swimming classes.
At dawn the trees still burn across the strait.