Hokku Written During Sunday Service

Tim Thiện Nguyễn

i.
Mathematician!
the Arabs knew, looked upwards
to see Him create

ink, which counts forces
binding chemicals building
genes, ordaining

how we yearn looking
upwards to a sky rooted
in a reddened God—dammit I ran out of syllables

ii.
children love asking
why do we bleed? yes.
why does it all hurt?

adults prefer you
pray, ask God for forgiveness
than bandage your scrapes

iii.
I offer my tithe
ticket home; the landlord hands
me a lottery

Do you bleed? I asked
He laughed, always, silly goose
when you hold the knife

iv.
questions are just weeds
in Eden, God would rather
color its pastures ash

Tim Thiện Nguyễn is a Vietnamese American scientist. His PhD research interrogated how genes shape our face in the womb. He has published through bath magg, Diode, Roi Fainéant Press, and phoebe. He currently resides in Cincinnati, OH.