Vintage DB 104: Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé’s “Blood Promise,” DB 21
This week’s awesome vintage selection is a throwback to Spring 2015, when Drunken Boat celebrated its 15th anniversary with the publication of DB 21. Featured in this issue is one special folio entitled “Union,” filled with works on the same theme, which contains several pieces by writer and artist Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé. “Blood Promise” is a poem that is particularly compelling for the way it allows us a candid peek at the lives of four women struggling with the immense population disparity of men and women on their island. The lack of men is not simply frustrating, but also begs questions of their hopes, desires, and even their self-worth. This incredible freestyle poem will make you laugh, make you feel, and most importantly, make you think.
“How much more sick can it get? Siew Mee said.
She kicked a box of boxes but screamed when it hurt.
Mum says the ticket is to marry a rich man, Siew Mee said.
That’s a stretch, Serena said.
How about trying to find a man to marry, she said.
How about trying to find a man anywhere, Meghan said.”
Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé is the author of an epistolary novel, Singular Acts of Endearment, two hybrid works, and seven poetry collections. A former journalist, he has edited more than fifteen books and co-produced three audio books. His eighth collection of poetry, Reading to Ted Hesburgh, is forthcoming from Squircle Line Press and Glass Lyre Press, 2017. Among other accolades, Desmond is the recipient of the PEN American Center Shorts Prize, Poetry World Cup, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Independent Publisher Book Award, National Indie Excellence Book Award, Singapore Literature Prize, two Beverly Hills International Book Awards, and two Living Now Book Awards. He helms Squircle Line Press as its publisher and founding editor. For more information about Desmond and his work, visit squirclelinepress.org
