Going up the Rangling Road
I see an infestation of bamboo
that threatens all the other vegetation.
This is serious,
my gardening friend tells me.

A
I suggest a herd of pandas:
Set them loose at the top of the road
near the nice duplexes that could house pandas.
And let them eat
all the way down to the ice cream store
for an arranged reward slake—
the bamboo looks kind of dry.

B
No, my friend tells me definitely
for two reasons: it’s not
the kind of bamboo they like,
and there aren’t enough pandas
in captivity to form such a herd.

Answer the following questions:

1.) Ignoring the ice cream and the gardener’s attitude,
does it matter if either A or B are true?
Why or why not?

2.) Why does China have all the pandas?

Jay Carson has published articles in scholarly journals, written scripts for PBS Adult Learning Services, as well as a successful application for a wonderfully big grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). He recently published a chapbook, Irish Coffee, with Coal Hill Review, and a longer book of poetry, The Cinnamon of Desire, with Main Street Rag. He has published more than 70 poems in local and national journals. His short story, ‟The Skunk Affair of 1962,” is forthcoming in Tower Journal.