Sunday, 17 November 2019

[archived poems by yuan 2017-2©]

2017, 12,] 11 [Monday

KATE: the Name Given to a First Child

K:        an other basket
you hold whatever with a shape
but sand or water

A:        As the first born to the Semitic family, A was originally a picture of an alef, the
Agricultural energy that was rotated twice until
Alpha loomed up in the Greek psychoscape even before
Adam became the chosen father of all Europeans close to
Athens, where Apollo had acupunctured wisdom and knowledge into
Aristotle, the intellectual ancestor of modern man, who inspired
Alexander to make the first effort of globalization, which did not reach East
Ah Q’s land, the largest hotel for All travelers until centuries later, but it is
Atomic bombs that will blow up all our pasts and send us through
America to a higher civilization, where the drop of an
Apple is to enable us to fly to the other side of the universe
Along the cosmic string as Africa, the heart of human darkness, awaits for Jesus, Allah, Buddha or an other unknown author to come and rotate for the third time
A scarlet letter of A

T:         the Egyptian loaf
far off the Phoenician mark
is still edible now

E:         born to be a double reed that can be bent into a long vowel
the most frequently used letter in english, echoing endlessly in silences
if pulled down, it offers two doors, one leading to Soul via will, the other
to Him via wisdom; if turned up right, it forms a mountain with three peaks
like three holy swords, pointing high
one against the sun
one against the moon
one against the sky
facing always towards the east, it embraces
existence, equality, eternity, emancipation...


Backwaters

Fishes surging forward with waves
Boats gliding along the currents
The river kept pouring all its living secrets
Into the chest of the ocean, while

One snag remains standing still
In this shallow zone, as if rooted deep
In our heart like a skeletal onlooker
Watching or reflecting on whatever is

Passing out there in the main course


Among the Leaves

Together with the season, myriads of
Leaves fall, soon disappearing into the earth
Or becoming dust in the wildness
Like so many souls lost over time

That one still hanging there is yours
I wonder which is my psychopomp?


Outstanding in the Groves

All your space-mates have put off their clothing
Ready to go hibernating in the winter, naked
Like so many skeletons stained with darkness

Except you, still dressed full in your best
Your leaves fluttering high against the wind
Ever so proud of your red badges of courage


Monday

Finally, recognized as the first day of
The week, the most popular day
To surf online, to get sick, to
Commit suicide. Like the tides
Alternatively changing
Between low and high, as if
Preordained by the moon, shining
As brightly above Virgil’s Rome
As above the rice fields in my native village


Tuesday

A circle, full of masculine energy
With an arrow shooting like a spear
Pointing towards the upper right
Always ready to war against Tiw

Yes, it is high time for men to challenge
And defeat all gods in an earthly battle


Wednesday

Is actually a winds-day, the time
To labour, the time to go fasting

Be it Woden or Mercury
Our souls will be guided to our afterlife
Upon our final departure, while

People in the east are busy travelling
Below the Water Star, or exchanging goods
Under Buddha’s protection

An exhausting day when we all outrun
Ourselves afar, far before our own souls



Thursday

A sweet time to give thanks to natives
In the new world, to recall eating fish before
USSR’’s demise, to begin school in Thailand, to
Cast votes in Britain, to commemorate Jupiter
In east or west; this thirstday is a day of
Thundering high in the sky, a day to
Roar, to howl, to scream, to sing


Friday

The sensualist day of the week:
Frigg’s day is black because
Venice casts shadows around every body

Today makes one itch everywhere because
            Jesus’s blood splashes onto our souls

Today is full of muted noise because
Fasting causes internal complaints

Today is bitter because all evils and
            Devils lost their battles against Durga

Today is stinky because workers from a bygone empire
            Are pissing freely on this POET’s day


Saturday

Fever. Discotheques. Beers. Marijuana
Sweets. Cartoons. Volunteers. Prayers
Bathes. Gun shots. Private purple meetings
Vampires. Elections. Rest. Clubs. Restaurants

Theatres. Picnics. Football. Basketball
Billy Crystal. Howard. Cosell. Contests
Lady of Fatima. Garden work. Saturn
Hiking. Long sleep. Dinner party 

The best and the worst of the week:
Nothing. Everything. Nobody
Everybody under Loki’s influence

Venture. Venture. Venture, as they
Sing, Bobo Waro Fero Satodeh


Sunday

The first, and the last
Of the week. The day
Of God, of man

We all take today off
For a good rest of our bodies
To work better for the good

Of our souls, or rather
The other way around


Selectively Alphabetic-Googling: Three Most Basic Universal Values

Chinese to other languages: truth Realmente حقا  সত্যিই echt vere vraiment wirklich באמת sungguh本当に정말로 vere pono virkelig
English to other languages: sannhet حقیقت правда verdad hakikat سچ sự thật gwirionedd
nyaniso  אמת iqiniso

Chinese to other languages: good Bueno خي ভাল goed, bone bon gut טוב bagus
良い좋은 bonum pai god
English to other languages: flink خوب хорошо bueno iyi اچھی tốt da  kulungile  good kuhle

Chinese to other languages: beauty Belleza لولايات المتحدة মার্কিন US, beleco beaute Schönheit יופי kecantikan  美しさ아름다움 us ataahua usa /
English to other languages: skjønnhet زیبایی красота belleza güzellik خوبصورتی
sắc đẹp, vẻ đẹp  harddwch  ubuhle  שיינקייטubuhle


Peace as Defined

English:           freedom from disturbance; tranquility; a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended
Chinese:         
Russian
French
Arabic


Water in English, Water in Chinese

hot, cold, fresh, distilled, warm, deep, pure, shallow, high, little, more, clear, low, much, clean, open, holy, enough, cool, sea, sterile, free, irrigation, liquid, excess, blue, deeper, sufficient, brackish, muddy, stagnant, ground, heavy, potable, less, hard, soapy, dirty, dark, well, salted, still, salt, tepid, icy, green, soft, lime, lukewarm, plain, underground, sweet, bottled, safe, smooth, raw, calm, polluted, ocean, bottom, ice, rough, quiet, iced, brown, boiled, pore, salty, abundant, slack, bound, colored, acid, impure, warmer, turbid, crystal, murky

决决,见底,迹水,涣涣,湖烟,浩瀚,浩淼,洸浪,汗漫,洸朗,沸然,分沙,淙琤, 鏦铮, 彻底,漕漼,迸珠,奔沸,泊泊,渟膏,蔌蔌,跳蹙,滔天,汪汪,湍泷,汪洋,文练,修然,鸭头洴涌,砯砯,喷沫,輣轧,砰磅,砰湃,漫滋,百滚,散涣,轻劲,柔蓝,清浏,泆汤,漓澌,浪淘淘,清凌凌,清溜溜,水渌渌,水淋淋,蓝晶晶,衣带水,碧漪漪 [resolute, bottom-seeing, traceable, ephemeral, lake-smoky, misty, expansive, vast, wandering, sweating, bright, boiling, sand-dividing, Boating, Bald, Bald, Bald, Monstrous, Bark, Turbulent, Wattled, Enrich, Duck, Swaddle, 100 Rolling, loose , light strength, soft blue, Qing Liu, soup, , waves Tao Amoy, Qingling Ling, clear yo, water , water shower, blue crystal, water with clothing, Bi Yi Yi]


Rose, My Red Red Rose Half-Recalled

Abloom, amazing, aromatic, artful, artistic, beautiful
Blooming, blushing, bold, breathtaking, bright, brilliant, budding, captivating
Charming, cheerful, cheery, cherished, chic, choice, colorful, creative, darling
Dazzling, delicate, delightful, distinctive, divine, dramatic, dreamy, elegant
Enchanting, exotic, expressive, exquisite, fashionable
Floral, fragrant, fresh, glorious
Gorgeous, graceful, heartfelt
Heavenly, iconic
Idyllic, impressive, jewel-toned
Joyful, keen
Kissable, long-lasting
Long-legged, lovely, luminous, luxurious, magical
Magnificent, majestic, mesmerizing, modern


Let Us Learn

Let us learn, learn to

Let go of anger

Let go of the wheel

Let go of the rope

Let go of the hand

Let go of the bygones

Let go of the thought

Let go of the bird

Let go of the fight

Let go of the fear

Let go of the money

Let go of this line



20 Great Archaic Words

With their equipollent AI
Puissant chips
Ambidextrous CPUs, and
Dwimmer-crafty software programs
The robot attercops enjoy
Driving humans round with pizzles

While onlookers are twattling along the super highway
I saw swevens inspire a quantum
To cozen one another in an entanglement
Although this creation is excogigated, and
Designed by a septentrional clone
That can retrieve no apricity


WHO:

W
pecking around a lion
only the little chick
knows the word's worth
as it writes the worlds' story
with its feet printed on the ground
rather than on a papyrus

H
inspired by a fence in hell
you were invented long ago
to connect every human
for a tall ladder of hope
that we can stand high
against the blue horizon
like the Babel Tower growing to reach Him
where I can find a home in the fame hall
where I can settle my soul in heaven

O
a rope loop propped up with hope
to lasso words running amuck, or
a mouth reshaped, repositioned
to pronounce the roundest vowel



MIKE: My Chosen English Name

M
despite your body as imposing as a massive mountain
you have a mindset hidden deeply
in the wisdom of a little owl or the plasticities of a drop of water

I
To begin with, the hieroglyphical origin of
My identity was simply no body but a common reed
Bowing its head to the rising sun on the barren bank of the Nile

Slim, tall, hollow-hearted, standing against tropical heat
Until one day 'I' was used as a human symbol, an open vowel
Referring to the speaker and since then I have become
One of the most frequently spelt letters
In the linguistic order of the day, always capitalized
To embody my dignity though I am nothing
But a common reed that could have been made into a flute

K
an other basket
you hold anything having a shape
but sand or water

E
born to be a double reed that can be bent
into a long vowel the most frequently used letter
in english, echoing endlessly in silences
if pulled down, it offers two doors
one leading to Soul via will, the other
to Him via wisdom; if turned up right
it forms a mountain with three peaks
like three holy swords, pointing high
one against the sun, one against the moon, one against the sky


No Lemon, No Melon: A Conversational Poem in Palindromes

Lon Nol, don’t nod!
            Did I?
                               
Was it a cat I saw?
            I did.

Sit on a potato pan, Otis!
            Madam?
Eva, can I see bees in a cave?
            I am Adam.

Red rum, Sir, is murder!
            Wow!

Step on no pets!
            I did?



Trade Surplus: Chinese Exporting into English

John does not deserve that award.
            You can you up, no can no BB!

Joe was stopped by the police near the school zone.
                                                No zuo no die.

Jill spent fifty thousand on a pair of shoes.
                        Her father is a tuhao from Beijing.

Jack’s bitcoin has risen by more than 1500 % this year.
Wow, the digital gold is so gelivable!

Jeff feels full of niubility and brags too much.
                                    That only reflects his shability.

Jennifer enjoys playing zhuangbility.
                        She is nobody but a sexretary.

Jenny was lost among people mountain people sea.
            I don’t blame her in such a gunvernment celebration.


Scarecrow

Sometimes hung up high in a thinly-leafed tree
Other times standing straight amidst crops
But always within a bloated human shape

You are more a fake ghost than a true god
Conceived to deceive not only birds
But also UFOs, keeping them from trespassing

Our territories; it’s your sub-human heart
Not really your super human body that is scaring
To every creature flying by in free space


chi: Insight into Chinese Civilization

Their subtlest art is cuisine
Their most developed industry is food processing
Their typical greeting is: have you eaten yet?
Their most significant social gathering is a dinner party
Their happiest moment is when they enjoy foods
Their last thing to do upon death is to eat what they’ve always wanted
Their most prosperous business is restauranting
Their best place for decision making is around a dinner table
Their most courageous thing to do is to be the first to taste something
Their most advanced knowledge is about whatever is edible.
Their proudest experience is they have eaten something you cannot even imagine
Their key word in describing a social event or interaction is eating

                        Of all ethnic groups in the human world
In every corner of a populated place in this planet
They are most creative, most adventurous, most attentive, most passionate
            Most efficient, most quality-minded, most aesthetic, most civilized
Whenever it comes to cooking or consuming foods
                       





2017, 11, 14 [tues]

Six Haiku

-dry fish
In the dying light
Your scales still glisten ashore
Recalling your pasts

- clouds
Soft mountains bloated
High above the human fields
Changing in white shapes

-aloe vera
Leaves lined with sharp spikes
You are ready to sooth souls
With milk in green blades

- stones
Hardened in your hearts
Are whole wild worlds each visible
Only to the seer

-lotus
Ethereal dancers
Move with slim waists and large heads
As round as the moon

-forest
Lines running freely
Through thick leaves and broken twigs
All in rhyme with time


Vase vs Walnut

Vase
Ever so eye-catching
Whether it stands high or low
With a hollow heart

Walnut
Always invisible
Behind its deeply wrinkled skin
Yet full of brains


Man-Spider

We are all spiders
Confining our lives to webs
Hung at dark corners


Leaf

High up on tree’s top
You flutter with power and pride
Until your downfall


Clock

You may keep re-starting
As often as each half a day

But you can never return

Even to yesterday, once
Your dream is finished



Compass

With all the countless and
Powerful attemptations

From the east and west alike
You stick to your chosen direction



Basic Punctuation Marks

, before any utterances from God
. behind the human reality in the moment
? after each sentence written in history
! at the end of every show of nature


White Crow

Perching long in my heart
Is a white crow that no one has
Ever seen, but everyone longs
To be

Always ready
To fly out, hoping to bring back
A glistening seed or a colorful feather
As if determined to festoon its nest


Whale Fall

Simply to attract, or nurture
More lives, your carcass sink
Slowly, and more slowly
To the seabed, where your skeleton

Will support and protect
Myriads of life forms
Like so many syllables
Decomposed in poetry


This Thought

This is the thought that is
Sailing along the horizon

This is the thought ready to fall
Finally from the leaf-tip at dawn

This is the thought looming afar
Beyond the stark mountains

This is the thought newly taken
Out of the water by the swordsmith

This is the thought with a bloated shape
Wrapping the whole world up in the mind

This is the thought running amuck
Naked, never able to find a shelter

This is the thought driving the wheels
Of history, back and forth, without stop


Allen

Used to sell T-shirts both on and
Off line while in high school
Each with his own brand name
Above the Moment printed somewhere

Somehow. During the summer holidays
I saw few strangers wearing his garments
(Except a few of his friends and classmates) and
Fewer dollars kept close to his id    

He did have a few followers, even fans, one
Of whom admitted admiring Allen’s entrepreurship
In the fashion industry; that is all the dynamics
Of his movement below adulthood, or

The adult world, where people care more
About money or masking than about T-shirts


Mother Tongue

Each time I want to know what
Language my pals use to think
I ask them how they count money
If they do so in English, then I know
Their mother tongue is English

When I was deeply lost in privacy
Swearing at a nuisance, or talking dirty
To my old girl, I could not help
Speaking Chinese. This made me wonder
If there is a necessary relationship

Between what we think in and
How we make money (or love)  


Father Knows Why

You know well where your son lives
You forget his address, and each time
Your birthday approaches, he forgets to call
You. He is simply too exhausted by his job
Too occupied with his own family affairs, or
Too busy hanging around with his pals, while
His baby daughter spends all his money
Saved to pay his mortgage. You miss him
A lot sometimes, but you don’t want to go
To California, or near where he dwells. You
Know you always could – there’s even no need to
Apply for a visa; there will always be plenty
Of time for travel. Your father came to visit
You only once. That was a trip from the other
Side of the world, to Vancouver, Westside.


Star or Stone                                         

Every body is a pebble
Orbiting the sun in the sky

Only those struck by a lucky star
Shine brightly above this planet

In darkness as in broad daylight
But it will never turn into a real star

(Big or fast enough, a flying pebble
Might become a star in its own right)


Timeless Snow

Hesitantly, the snowflakes keep
Drifting around until their final fall
To the ground, in thick stillness

As the present becomes totally
Assimilated to the past (or future)

All in a white world of fairy tales  


Morning Call

Rise, Sun! Rise for me
I need just another fine day
To finish my last trip

Far beyond the outer space
Near my inner being, where I can
Stop to let all go, in particular

This legendary line about you


In the Year of the Rooster

This is not really Chinese zodiac
But born in a year of the rooster last century
I was fated to crow aloud to summon  
The first morning glows above the

Rice-fields, pecking here and there
For a seed or a pebble bit close
To my grandma’s straw-roofed
Cottage, ready to put up a chicken fight

With my fleshy crown standing up straight
But never able to fly higher than a broken
Fence, since my body was winged
With more fat than feathers

Only after I died did I manage to travel afar
To an exotic land, when my naked being
Was minced and served for a minor course
In a recyclable plate as in this little poem


The Superlative

Higher than the Tower of Babel 
Wider than the Great Wall
Is the screen that has separated
Me from you, from them, from God

Mightier than the a full-scaled earthquake
More destructive than the biggest hydrogen bomb
Is a soft touch, a gentle hit on the keypad
As small as a baby’s palm

Smarter than the world champion of chess
More charming than the sexist Hollywood actress
Is a chip in the AlphaGo-like robot, ready
To give every adult as many orgasms as desired

Yes, as some people make machines smarter than all
And machines make everyone all the more stupid
Who is to rule this world, who is hidden
Behind the thinly shrinking screen?













2017, 9, 27 [wed]

Cross Representing

One after another
Stroke after stroke
           
      Inch by inch

The artist tries to
Paint the whole autumn scenery
Onto his framed canvass, while

His shadow is drawn longer
And longer into the landscape
 The unframed picture

      Of nature


String Music of Forest

In total seasonal stillness, where
There is no wind disturbing

The fingers of the unseen
Poke each tree as if on a harp
From top to bottom, with
One note after another
As leaves fall crisply in their last
Dance of despair  

The music of death, beating like rain
Against each twig, each passing ear


Daimonion

Because of its coarseness
The voice had to scream so hard
Its pitch became fully blood-noted


Rather than calling my soul away
From each devil looming among
Inner mountains, it lead me right

Into the valley of unheard music
Beyond every river, every forest
Every patch of sky


Ataraxia

Defines true happiness
As a sustained sense of
Balance (of comprises

Or conspiracies)

Between yin and yang
Between body and soul
Between man and nature


Dasman

You are no body but
A shoal of consciousness
Recalling one happy version
Of your inner being after another
In the past (or future)

Each projected alive
Into this outer world of illusions


Komorebi

With the fullest thrust
Of a water bomb blasting
In the dark forest


Yeah, Just Because I Could

I fucked the intern girl in office
I hid smoking guns in Bagdad
I followed him to Iraq like a running dog of war
I took billions of public yuan into my own pockets
I sold dozens of generalships for at least twenty million each
I am tampering with rockets and nuclear warheads
I have sent soldiers to Dohlam and demanded more Chinese investments
I have dispatched subs into South China Sea to join the game
I am to revise the constitution and institution to start another war in Asia
I will…


Public Will

An uncontained body of water, always ready
To come and embrace you, licking your feet
If you stand high
But drown you if you remain
Low at the bottom

[Or the other way around:

If you stand high above, I will retreat afar
From you, but come to hug you
When you are still low below
Just to show my noble
Friendship]


Chip

You’ve died, but will live again
As a robot. If life by chip,
Life by circuit, life by muted moment
Antennals;      
More, coordinating machine.
You will perceive what you contact:
Mega-Physics.
How you will be sensing:
Every sensible, sensitive signal.
You recognize, Human.
I recognize, i.hooyeau.
Processing the info.
The way a scientist does
A human mind does.  


Hiking in the Forest

I stepped aside to let the cyclist pass
You are welcome! I said. He actually
Had said nothing, but I assumed he had
Said Thanks! And a light feeling swept
Through my heart, You are welcome
As I continued to follow the trail
Into the depth of Pacific Spirit Forest
Each step trodden on the leaves
And a breeze blew through the komorebi
You are welcome in this kingdom of trees, the
Whole natural world I was in, together with
All my heart and soul. You are welcome
To share the tranquility of an unmanned realm, where
The entire physical world wrapping itself up
In me, and beyond all roads. You are welcome
To penetrate my private moment of space and, in particular
You are welcome to cut short this line of thought



On Mountain

Once in a while, just to reenact memories
The mind set forth beyond itself and its environment
Travelling afar. He cried like a young rooster:
Cock-a-doodle-doo. (Cocks do not coo, but I will)

If only the mind could raise itself to the top
Of a mountain, whirling upwards, joining the glows
In the east. Instead it falls slowly and softly
To the ground, drifting around, finally

Settling down at the mouth of a tremendous cave
It was meant for, near nothing that is recalled
And never is there a shadow, let alone a shadow’s
Shadow, as Plato sees it, reflecting the inside

Ventifacted out there at a spot of
Oblivion, where the passer-by wonders
How it happened to be, and
Be there as if never had been


e.Venture

after downloading all my
consciousness, sub or sur, I tried
to upload it onto the inner page of
a Douglas fir, an arctic wolf
a fish fossil, a quantum robot, or
a mountain dew but without success

so I inserted the u disk back
into my head, when an electric
black out just happened. That’s
how I lost all my memories
my entire selfhood inside out


yijing

could mean the book of change
‘runoff sperms,’ ‘already,’ or ‘as
soon as’ in Mandarin sounds, but
here it refers to creative conception
artistic landscape, or literally
meaning scenery, as suggested
in a traditional Chinese painting of
a realm of ink, brushpen and ricepaper, where

a white horse is charging swiftly
across the point of two meeting hills
or a whole mountain range
highlighting itself beside a pine tree
reaching out as if to welcome
visitors, or level against the whole world
as in one of Wang Wei’s poems, Su Dongpo’s
ci, Mao Zedong’s handwritings


Ichthus

Only in Greek can we manage to live, and
Thrive, with almost each civilized mind
Upon the net, where there are more than enough
Chips to fry, to steam or to cook

Rather than on Friday only, we eat
Fish every day, even every hour
Not to honor His heavenly blessings
But to celebrate Peter’s earthly catches


qipao

One-piece of satin
One body and soul, always as a whole
Body-hugging
Hugging tightly with every warm vision

Sleeker than skin
Sexier than sex

Covering every inch of her female charm
    With only a narrow crack allowing
    To peep, to admire, to imagine, to enjoy
Beauty with oriental rhythm












2017, 8, 17 [thurdsay]

Let Alone

Man, as he really is, is far beyond
God’s imagination, let alone understanding

If you really love Earth, you wouldn’t be
Afraid to show it to the world, let alone her

Most websites don’t even last fourteen
Months, let alone fourteen years

They never thought they’d be able to do
Any serious reading, let alone thinking

Some people can’t help inventing lies
Let alone telling them

The sun shines on you but not on me
Let alone my shadow

I always expect the world to leave me
Alone, let alone my poetry


Infancy: To Kate Emily Yuan

With genes from countless ancestors
All joined in a single cry or laughter

And even more of their expectations
Encoded or otherwise, you move forward
Crawling around nonchalantly
Despite your tiny limbs and
Your tinier soul

To lead their spirits towards the morning glow
To extend all their lives once lived somewhere


Bamboo Leaf

It is true not all purple bamboos can be
Made into flutes, but beside
My dying bed, you can still whistle, with
Any bamboo leaf, even your two bare lips

Just blow these few noisy notes aloud
Into my shrunk innnself:
Success
Happiness
Selfhood
Individualism
Human dignity and, of course

All gone with the wind


Spiritual Physics

Few are really aware of
Such universes
Existing beyond our own

Even fewer of so many other versions
Of selfhood living
In each of them, let alone
This simple secret:

At the depth of consciousness
Lives a quantum
    Or soul as we prefer to call it
A particle, demon and/or angel dancing

The same dance afar, far apart
In an entanglement



Daoist Harmony between Man and Nature

One Way // One Innerself

Two opposites // body vs soul

Four seasons // four limbs

Five elements // five senses

Seven days // seven emotions (sins?)

Twelve months // twelve energy channels

Twenty four hours (or solar) // twenty four spine vertebrae

Thirty hundred sixty five days // so many meridian points

All so exactly correlated, corresponding, cooperative
To be balanced as if between yin and yang…


Daoist Way to Yangsheng

Don’t we all long for
Wellbeing and longevity? But few
Know this prescription for yangsheng:

Yes, drink enough water
-          The most nutritious intake
Have a sound sleep at night
-          The most effective healer
Take a walk daily
-          The best exercise
And sing songs from time to time
-          The supplements richest in dopamine

Needless to say, they are freely available to
Each and all of us
Daoist practitioner or otherwise


Electioneering

Even if he is more challenged chemically
Temporarily, follicularly than not
The candidate is none the less right:

With restricted growth, he’s chatting amicably
Right now with a wheelchair user, and
A person with visual and hearing impairments

Yes, he does look as vertically challenged
As she is cosmetically different, and
You are certainly not differently logical

Although he is a reactionary member of
The white power elite, he is socially misaligned
In fact. What comes the least best is the very way

He knows he is ethically disoriented as uniquely
Coordinated, but he longs to be our politically correct
Representative. Yes, vote me, you damned assholes!


Pogonip

Fine dust of Moonshine and starlight
Thick-skinned around each twig of
Last season, to be peeled off by the unseen fingers   
Of the chinook blowing
From another new world
                             
Ready to return to the dreamland
Of the coming summer, each like a bloated
Gossamer of consciousness


Easier Said Than Lived

Life is really so meaningless
You often say, which may
Well be true, but they
Allege death is even more so, while
I would argue the meaning of life

If any at all, is to make it meaningful, or
To create one out of meaninglessness  


How Come

You really
Me? She
Us? I
You? He
Them? One
Her? We
You? It
Us? They
Him/her?



On a July Friday Evening

All construction noises gone. Except fewer
And fewer cars swishing by. A vegi dinner
I watched wolf warriors. She stared at
Her smartphone. No visitor as on every
Other eve. I thought of making love
I want. No! She is no longer a woman
Let alone mine. No internal communication of
Any kind. So aged we can no longer go to bed
Earlier or later. I wandered awhile online
Trump again. Doklam standoff continued
No fire between Guam and NK. No body
Contact either. No more. The bed is too small
For two big different dreamers. However
Always too large for a small stanza  


Multi-Mouthed Bird

With as many as
Seven throats, the bird
Keeps singing aloud
So incongruously

But like the starlight from
Another universe, the songs from
The one and same heart have
Never reached humans yet


Wintry Whim

With its whitest, and
Softest touches, the snow
Turns every sharp
Point, every sharp angle
Into a tender curve
As if to make a fine-grained
And universal compromise

Until a warm sunny afternoon
When all stark contracts, and
Dark confrontations loom
As the order of the day


However They Keep Just to Themselves

Trees everywhere
On each road, in every yard

Yet only far, and farther away
In a virgin forest can you hear
The songs from a tree’s ringed heart
In the shiny shape of a woman
Sitting close to your chest and
Throat, with all the green spirits

Set free from the carved cleft holes
Resonating in a foreign land
                                                            








2017,7,7 [Friday]

To Be Continued: a Portrait of a Poet Getting Newly Old

Born with half a dozen defects and deformities
But always trying to be a damned perfectionist

Never able to pass any English test in a Chinese high school
But managed to obtain a Canadian PhD in English literature

Growing up in the lowest physical conditions
But having the highest quests for spiritual life

With much fewer needs for money than a true puritan
But working like an unserviced coin-making machine

Deep in love with nature
But prisoned in a big city

A man of few words by nature
But making a living by teaching

Enjoys expressing himself most
But has few readers or listeners

Cherished a young dream about becoming a political leader
But living a self-exiled marginalized life most of the time

Never really cared for by any human
But full of love for other fellow beings


The Very Longest Time

The longest time in history is neither a kalpa nor even
An ice age, but the time it had taken me
To encounter you on the boat the other day (or, to
Continue taking your shower after a water blackout)

The second longest time is neither a millennium nor
Even a century, but the time it took me
To kiss you after our first casual meeting (or, to
Have my dish finally ready while eating the meal)

The third longest time is neither a decade
Nor even a year, but the time when
We were separated by a delayed flight (or, by
An ad while watching our favorite drama)

The fourth longest time is neither a season
Nor even a month, but the time it will take
Me to pass a random test of our love (or, to
Receive your reply after sending you a message)



Vancouver Overture

When the whole Fraser Valley is
Flooded with sunlight
Rushing down wildly
From the Rocky Mountains
Every crack, and every
Crevice is filled with
Oriental photons
In the lower mainland

And so is each

Dark spot in the soul
Each shadow in the heart
As each black hole
That seems looming
At the center of your mind
Shortly after another dream
Made in the depth of last night
About roaming over the Pacific



Geophysical Circulation

Form the heart of
    The Northern Gyroscope
Pumps out the blue blood of
The Pacific
With its spirit of peace, circulating
Within the arteries of every human continent


The 52-Hz Whale

Humming, speaking, calling
    Or yelling at this frequency

You can be heard only
By your own inner ears


First Feminist Fight

Created out of the exactly same
Dust as was her first partner (long after
Pangu separated sky and earth)
Lilith turned out Adam’s true equal

Simply unable to yield her body and soul
To his manhood, she jumped up, fighting
All her way to God against Adam’s
Heavier weight or taller height; meanwhile

She’d rather go to flirt with an archangel
On his way to hell, and become
The mother of all devils and demons
Than take a lower position, under a man



By Definition True Tranquility

Is the absence, or emptying of
All self-consciousness, whether

You are lost deep amidst
Noises, or even silences


Epiphany

After countless trials, your innerself
Finally manages to climb up right
Into the high room
But only to find

The door is actually open
To begin with


Self-Way

Every road leads to Rome, they say
(Or Beijing), but there is only one

To your true selfhood; in other words
Connecting all the trails and paths

You have ever travelled along, you’ll
Find they make up the one long way

Guiding you to your own inner being


Ritual Walk

Once a week, I take a long
Walk in the heart of the Pacific
Spirit Forest Park, where I
Enjoy dating, flirting with
Nature in the depth of my heart

No, to be more exact, my heart is
The forest per se, where I love to
Open up my innerself once in a while
Like those firs or cypresses, standing

Tall and straight, ready to let in
A few sunbeams on a bright day


Inside vs Outside

Even if, as you choose
You are already deep inside
The circle, inside
The trend, inside
The office, inside
The fashion, inside
Her body, inside
Their book, inside
Its record, inside
Our archive, inside
Your heart, or even inside
The very core, your inner being
Is still lingering in the outside

The way I always prefer
To see, to watch, to think


Inner Mining

Deep beneath the horizons
Of your mind lies a virgin mine

Of infinities, where all
The unknown is ready to be

Explored, and all the raw
Consciousness (of every

Other being) is connected
In a network of time

(Space, matter or energy?)
While science may process each ore

Into a spiritual coin, only art can offer
You the right tool to dig it, refine it


Naverise: for my Grandson

The moment he was born, speechless
Or too excited, my grandson, who
Wouldn’t love words as I do, cried aloud
Out of his own long-muted melody

Between consonants and dissonants
(Coded within the rings of a Douglas fir)
Reaching high into the blue of sky
By preparing itself to be unrooted

[river entering the sea by letting itself be swallowed]


On the Monterey Beach

The wave has retreated farther, and
Father back, the shell left straddled
On itself, and all its dehydrated memories
                                                                                                
It whistles like a night traveler: I have a dream
And I cannot wait to see what lies ahead
As if the content were fully sponged with

Consciousness, ready to evaporate into the sky
Along with the wind, it keeps rolling up ashore
Approaching human footprints, behind itself

The shell left a broken line, almost invisible
Like a trail left by another wave, trying
To accomplish a couplet or a marine stanza

Giving sense to wind:
How it came to be, and
Be here


Quest

in a world always half in darkness
your body may be soaked deep
in a nightmare, rotting

but your heart can roam
like a synchronous satellite
in the outer space, leaving
the long night far behind
as long as your heart flies fast
and high enough, you will live
in light forever



2017, 5, 7 [Sunday]

Snowline

At the same height of
            Every rocky mountain
       Above all seasonal change
You are widely and cursively cut

As if to bite a whole patch of
      Sky from heaven
With rows of rows of
Whale-like teeth


Stoneman

Standing still by the roadside
Not to point to
Another hunting field
But to lead passers-by
To the land of greener pasture


Blue Glacier

Not a game between the eye and
Light wave, but all the dust of
A whole lost civilization frozen
In the color of sea and sky
Long before history began


Dancing Ice

A blue seraph
From last ice age
Getting drunk
With the liquid fire
Of maotai


Natural Bonsai

Hundreds, even thousands of years of
Evergreen growth
Into a stout pine or fir
Close to the icefield
Pruned by Arctic winds
Potted deep in Rocky Mountains


In the Heart of Rock Mountains

Despite all seasonal changes
The heaviest snowfalls, or
The most violent storms
You keep lying flat on your belly

With your head held high, like an enormous
Deformed sphinx in full stillness
This world’s most nonchalant audience
Ever watching, ever wordlessly


Encountering during My Second Banff Tour

On our way to the Louise Lake
We saw a baby deer crossing the highway
Of our hearts; we don’t know her name

Nor did she even bother to notice us
But her tender and graceful shape
Remain standing there, like yours

Even long after our tour ended
At a bus stop before the church


Red Magic Spell

西方咒语
据说用拉丁文念就有效果

[evil removal spell]
Marak Bhoozak Jalaa
Marak Bhoozak Jalaa
Marak Bhoozak Jalaa
Marak Bhoozak Jalaa

Magic success spell
HOKUL JOHUM BEHAMIZ TAREG

Sweet Fears

Before rising with his long and thick pigtail  
Nurgaci openly proclaimed his seven bitter hatreds
Against Ming China, which eventually made him
The father of the Qing Empire... I do not have
Such prestigious hatreds, except for only a few
Hidden fears or, rather, non-fears: yes, I fear

I don’t fear not being rich, not being
Famous, not being powerful
Not being physically attractive, not
Being gifted or talented, not being
Normally healthy and, in particular
Not even being as poetic as I would
Otherwise have wanted. Although absolutely
Private, aren’t my fears sweeter than bitter?


In No Particular Order


Trees are much more beautiful than humans

Because each has a deep root
Because each root grabs earth tightly

Because each has a strong trunk
Because each trunk is supportive of all its branches

Because each has a unique shape
Because each shape is graceful in its own way

Because each has only one position
Because each position is firm for a lifetime

Because each has a natural environment
Because each environment is a perfect fit for its soul

Because each has a solid heart
Because each heart is full of rings of love


Time against Subjectivity

No sooner had the ice sheet moved an inch

No sooner had dinosaurs extinguished

No sooner did they come down from trees

No sooner did the gambler stops casting the dice

No sooner was the book written

No sooner have the snags drifted away

No sooner did the politician finished his speech act

No sooner has she left the house… Are you listening?


Rocky Mountains

When his mother came to visit his family
From the other side of this world, Michael
Took her to Banff for the sight of blue glaciers
In Columbia Icefield, a tour among Rockies
Massive, mighty, magnificent as the human mind

Some looking like castles in a nightmare
Some like Titanics among icebergs
Others like the haunches of dragons, Chinese
Or otherwise, fighting on an ocean at dusk
How come the trees are all so small. Are they

Man-planted? Mother asked. No, because
Of the harshest climatic conditions here, they
Have only a couple of weeks to grow in a year
Explained the tour guide, when Michael’s mind
Was wondering in the more wintry wildness

Near northern lights, where he could see
Neither rocks nor mountains, where a single
Flake turned his thought into blue glacier


Towards the Infinite

All the finite agitates, and keeps agitating
Knowing their lives are short, they never
Stop moving, as if to the infinite, acting and
Reacting, as if to reach worldly immortality

Like Aristotle working on a new subject
Confucius hunting for a seat before a duke
Da Vinci and Su Dongpo busy writing and drawing
Every contemporary interneting when salmons

Are trying to swim back from far east seas, or
Crops growing hard in every field, even the earth
Itself keeps rotating around the sun. Yes
All that is living is agitating, never taking a break

As if struggling against one another for the first
Entry into the indefinite of time (or space)
To be measured in finite terms, except
The human mind alone, expanding indefinitely


Differentiation

You contribute what
You have extra: a cap
 A pair of shoes

The whole season that has
Preordained, or all the trees
Wrapped with mists, against when

One is to grow into a shape different
From another


Birthday Party

You celebrate your birthday
With joy and laughter, a time
For wishes, when Mother was

Tortured to death the other day
Just for your first cry


Analogy

I write; therefore
I am, just as she dances
So she is


Defining Dance

A series of rhythmical movements
To the music of heart, often
With violent steps

Or

A most orgasmic sexual intercourse
Without private parts contacting openly




   

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