They built a bench around the tree of unfinished wood
Siamese twins sat there thumbing through a bestiary
Discussing ants the size of dogs digging up gold
An asp being charmed by a man reading from a book
Trucks with advertisements rumbled by
Some dropping dollops of cement which became part of the road
Chang said to Eng how he is happy for any change
As when the Gregorian calendar was introduced
Bringing it back in line with the solar year
And New Year’s moved from March 25th to January 1st
Not everything makes this much sense Eng said to Chang
As when the Hydrus slides its mud-bright body into the crocodile’s mouth
In order to eat its way out or an eccentric landlord painted the façade
Of his renovated building to match the sky
Then retired to an even more serene state up north