and lo!, a sad asian girl's memory card is full

The 8gb memory card.

The 10.1 mega-pixel camera.

The Asian girl is not a

Stereotype worth generalizing about.

Her Giga pet died years ago,

As Japan’s economy was crashing,

As China’s Great Wall was being

Repaired, this time for tourists,

The Mongolians no longer care to cross,

Though Koreans on either side will be

Shot if they do.

Busy massaging the world,

The Thai are not at home, while

Tibetans are, but feel as though they are not

As bad off as the Vietnamese, who

Are better off than the Burmese, who

Are not as well off as the Japanese.



And just when we fear that the world is

Spinning too fast, that time is rushing like

An elderly addict rushing to the casino,

Somewhere, almost everywhere,

Is an unassuming girl ready to

Record and share it all in spite

Of generalizations not worth

Stereotyping about.





luke armstrong (Kalispell, MT, 1985)