The Real World: Poem Response

"The Real World" is a poem by Justin Chin from his latest book, Harmless Medicine.

There is a real world.
It exists somewhere, outside

The focal pint of my eyes,
Outside the timbre of my voice,
Way outside my pissing distance.

What is this real world?
It can be invaded

By aliens. It can close its borders.
I will find myself on the side
Of a barbed wire, thick as fingers,

Fence higher than God,
In the middle of a field

The size of a continent.
I will not know

Which side I am on,
No bearings, no markers,

Just endless field. A few trees.
Two small mammals. One marsupial.

My body spinning drunk. Pegged
In the sanctity of my deep dark blood.

Go there. Venture

To this real world.
Tell me how real it is.
Be my explorer.

Drink its murky uncharted water.
Tell me what it tastes like.

Tell me if parasites and amoebas
In its deceptively cool gulp

Will kill me, in this,
Our achingly craved real world.

Explorer is out in the real world...reporting back soon.