Burlee Vang, born in 1982, is the firstborn of Hmong refugees from Laos. He is the recipient of the Paj Ntaub Voice 2006 prize for poetry, and author of Incantation for Rebirth (Swan Scythe Press, 2010).
TO LIVE IN THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Burlee Vang
The moon will shine for God
knows how long.
As if it still matters. As if someone
is trying to recall a dream.
Believe the brain is a cage of light
& rage. When it shuts off,
something else switches on.
There’s no better reason than now
to lock the doors, the windows.
Turn off the sprinklers
& porch light. Save the books
for fire. In darkness,
we learn to read
what moves along the horizon,
across the periphery of a gun scope—
the flicker of shadows,
the rustling of trash in the body
of cities long emptied.
Not a soul lives
in this house &
this house & this
house. Go on, stiffen
the heart, quicken
the blood. To live
in a world of flesh
& teeth, you must
learn to kill
what you love,
& love what can die.