Tanka
after visiting
the mind of grade one
I bend time
in my direction
again become a child
your poems
stab into my heart
I lie down
covered with blankets
at high noon
embraced by
the ancient echoes
of poetry
I come wholeheartedly
in search of its scent
I want
to...
in the darkest of the night
my desk is stuffed
with crumpled balls of writing
all holding the same line
long holiday
I keep my eyes on the road
she measures
the distance between us
by the number of rest stops
snowflakes
from last night's dream
fall and pile up
blurring the boundary
between my present and her future
I plan to
write
one thousand and one love poems
for you
yet in a cheap motel room
the power goes on and off
in my
mind
there is a kind of fighting
I will not stop—
on the attic
window
the pitter patter of rain
loneliness persists
in its singing—
with a net of words
I catch the night
and nail it to the ceiling
I sleep
on the couch she bought for me
wondering
if there was a full moon
on our first night together
go back
where you came from
Nostalgia screams—
one kick after another
I see Bruce Lee in the mirror
Note: Bruce Lee (27
November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Chinese American actor, and
he is highly regarded by many commentators and fans as the most
influential martial artist of modern times.
Haibun
Ilha Formosa?
Sendai
earthquake...
the darkness pierced
only by flashlights
The news about
Japan's tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
saddens and frightens me. I worry so much about the long-term
health risks for Japan and its neighbors that I find myself
tossing and turning at night, knowing my homeland, Taiwan, is
one of the closest.
Fukushima --
the vending machines
still glowing
I remember one day
during the late 1990s at the height of the anti-nuclear movement
in Taiwan, someone handed me a flyer on the street. It listed
all the important instructions on how to survive a nuclear
disaster. The last one on the list said: "When driving away in
the rescue convoy, please remember to look back, because that
will be your last sight of Taipei."
radioactive
scare
this a world of dew
and yet...
Note:In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of
Taiwan and named it "Ilha Formosa," which means “Beautiful
Island.” Taipei is its capital.
The Same Moon
Li Po and Du Fu Drank to?
I hold the glass to
the light, and then tip it, checking color and density as it
thins out towards the brim.
I take a deep drink, letting it surge through my mouth and send
out the waves of loneliness across my shoulders and down my
spine as I look out the window.
autumn moonlight
drips between the leaves...
another glass of wine
Note: Li Po and Du
Fu have been regarded as two of the greatest Chinese poets. Li
Po was part of the group called the "Eight Immortals of the Wine
Cup", as mentioned in a poem by Du Fu.
Free Verse
A Drunken Poem
loneliness
grabs me
by the balls
my mind
begins to tremble
a poem
is thrown out
of my shadow
Day
and Night
secrets
breathed
punctuate
the blackness of day
gathered in the dark
many poems on a page
made from the scalp
of a lonely night
As
night deepens
ghost of
the past
tiptoes cautiously into
the realm of my dreams
he is afraid of stumbling
and becoming
an illegal alien
