As I Stand on the Stage of Beverly's Hill

as i stand on the stage of beverly's hill

the bike ride over with time to kill

will this be day's end an hour before noon

or will i sing with Shih-Hwang

by the light of the silvery moon?

 

when i bid the gate be opened

so by the elevator ride to my perch

will my flights of fancy

ever touch the earth?

 

as i sit here on the stage's end

with blue blue sky in the building's shadow

with the Han here squeezed between

 roads of noisy vehicles belching exhaust

will i choke on my own laughter hollow?

 

what a sorry fellow am i

 like a marshmellow in an airtight plastic bag

squeezed or burned by consumers to a crisp

when all i want to do, lordy mama,

is rag mama rag

12-29-12

 

 

 

 

 



The Pebbled Wall - A Barrier

the pebbled wall

 a barrier

from the dyke to the river

the slope of well-placed boulders

the size of beige melons

eroded for hundreds of years

a place to climb down

to green bushes, tall grass, wild flowers

where small white butterflies flutter

and small black birds take flight...

one could trample all this

frighten away the birds

make shoeprints in underbrush mud

before reaching more beige melons

on the banks of the shallow rushing river

 taoist temple behind

12-29-12

Face Away From The Wind

 society priority

 testicular vehicular

politicians pretend they're globular

get votes from relations popular

 

egrets gather on the Han River

 congregate where fish accumulate

in still waters over dams

get fish in the pooling

 

beauty in every swooping sparrow 

  hat blown to the floor

are you picking up

 face away from the wind

 

 

12-28-12

 

 

Brownbook Magazine

abu dhabi do

booyah Melilla with Franco statue

brownbook.me

Vuitton, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels

arab spring, go to hell

 blue LED-electrified fences

occupied pleasures, capturing moments

from scions of casbah enclaves

paradoxes of women in gaza

upheaval and instability in Egypt

affected Ziedan's printing

 international prize of 

handsome U.S. dollars

palestine honey in a jar

urban lifestyle middle east

armenian heritage

western design

socially exclusive Cartier

phony arabic mercedez bends

virtual relationships banned

Emirati Ghassan Al Katheri approved

phony fascist american middle east

not an Arab/Tarzan spring in sight

not a dictator displaced

not a black market sneaker scuffed

12-23-12

Sung to "Edison"

instead of riding up Han River

exercising myself for the day

to the roof garden where i live sir

where Sweeney-Poo likes to play

Sweeney-Poo likes to play

 

the weather has changed not for the better

clouds thicken dark no smog today

wind whips the fourteenth floor rooftop

where Sweeney-Poo comes to play

Sweeney-Poo comes to play

 

oh, now, don't have a cow

you're gonna be bluish

unless you are Jewish

Sweeney-Poo comes to play

Sweeney-Poo comes to play

 

looks like the rain is coming in soon

temperature dropped twenty points today

Sweeney looks scared against the rim where

Sweeney-Poo likes to play

Sweeney-Poo likes to play

 

12-18-12



America on Record: The Inventors I

steel reeds, strips of steel

attached to an

 electro-magnet

making and breaking a current

tuning forks of different pitches

receivers tuned to

 many frequencies

off and on,

 on and off

on long on short

off long off short

 layers of dots and dashes

more than morse

western union's remorse

 

a thin slice of metal

attached to one pole of an

electro-magnet

with the other end of a thin slice

just over the opposite pole of the

electro-magnet

pluck a reed

go on, pluck a reed next to it

produce a current to activate the

electro-magnet

way on over on the other end

and hear the pitch

 from the other end

 

 

with the current off

in the other room he said

"free the reed, Watson"

and Watson plucked the reed

vibrating the reed in Bell's room

Bell moved his ear close to the

electro-magnet

he swears he heard

the sound from Watson's room

flashed from a noise

he tried it again

"come here, I want you"

Watson listened to

electric speech

 

 

12-15-12

 

 

Sung to "Lather"

(sung to "Lather")

david is fifty-eight years these days

he's given back all of his joys

his friends they send Facebook e-mails to him

of their lives which they cannot enjoy

there was darling jimmy, forty-seven maybe

for him life is mostly a prank

and sergeant  Goldschmidt giving pearls to shit

while letting his very soul sank

but david can finally like what he does

lying nude in dear Lin Shih-Hwang's hands

kissing nipples on breasts that look like bumps

and loving her like a free man

12-13-12

Sit Well - Dangerous

thank you for letting me back in this place

been sneezing and wrenching and losing my face

the birds are still flying

the Han waters trying

to tumble o'er every disgrace

i'm riding here at my own pace

the juxtaposition of death and fruition

folded while i held the ace

thank you, dear lord, for saving my place

on a dyke between Buddha and Han

12-13-12

Han River Way

here i am

here for me

what i want

is plain to see

 

food and weather

ride a bike

it's easy to be free

when i do what i like

 

i'm here with you

not only here for you

it's nothing new

you want to be here, too

 

what you brew

is up to you

what you blew

is your trip, too

 

give me affection

i'll look in your direction

make me an erection

that's a sweet confection

 

without democracy

as far as eyes can see

government corruption

corporate gumption

 

it doesn't really matter

the forest or the trees

more chance of killing fleas

than finding lasting peace

 

i can't teach you

if i can't reach you

the deemed mock you see

ruined your ABC's

 

dumbness everywhere

does anybody care?

taiwanese aware

the terror happened here

 

now it's happening there

bomb your underwear

so here is where i am

thank you, uncle sam

 

you made it hard to stay

enjoy a Brooklyn day

here is where i'll play

biking the Han River way

 

12-6-12

 

 

 



One's a Happy Male

one's a happy male

one's a lonely anarchist

one's beside himself in false starts

one's got automobiles to wash and show

one's got answers to every union question

two's walking by looking at me

fours a train passing by with no eyes

many's the time i have wondered

and all i can do is make you wonder why

how wonderful it is

when your heads are out of your asses

 

12-2-12

 



The Days of Future Pass

the days of future pass

i sit here without clock

with no remorse

but a bike or horse

to be able to go

to stay and watch the Han go by

retirement indeed

'the smell of grass

helps me pass into a dream'

awe cannot be explained

come flutter by with me Leona butterfly

 

12-1-12



The Han Flow Called Me Today

(Sung to "Something Better Beginning" By The Kinks)

the Han flow called me today

put on my raincoat and went out to ride

the egret lighted the way

on a boulder waiting for a fishy fry

the fog may be lifting away

from atop the cloudy mountainside

is this the start of another heartbreaker

or something better beginning

something better beginning

something better beginning

 

adding to my Taiwan repetoire

it's feeling near as i look far and wide

plastic bottles float on the flow

doesn't make the water turn bashful or cry

across the bank of my life

lies rudeness and arrogance two-ply

is this the start of another heartbreaker

or something better beginning

something better beginning

something better beginning

 

i used to work in Brooklyn from eight to three

like an ambulance running stop signs

is there is eager class here waiting for me

or am i just killing time

 

two  turtles displaced in the Han

"they don't belong there," she said and knows why

some buddhist seeking good luck

put them there for fortune

it's really a crime

we are those turtles, i think

we  live and breathe here but don't know why

is this the start of another heartbreaker

or something better beginning

something better beginning

something better beginning

 

11-28-12 

 

 

 

 

Emerson, Emerson

again, place in my hand

the greatest of teachers' reminders

Emerson, Emerson

love me with your words 

with reminders of self reliance

just as nature, nature

makes waterfalls down man-made concrete

like waffle sculptures across the Han River

stay un-fetted

stay a seed of all and a follower of none

stay nowhere long and then move on

court the youth but be not concerned

how they feel you unnecessary

have no opinions of them

have none for those who put society above 

their natural feelings

teach them not who will not be taught

and be no model for anyone

Emerson, Emerson

words that America wasted

11-26-12

slithering out of a dirty Brooklyn cocoon

slithering out of a dirty Brooklyn cocoon
the Han River still flows strong in Taichung
stayed inside and drew the blinds in Brooklyn
with mushy carpet, toochie odors
but egrets still fly over the Han
horn-honking New York, get outta the way
while egrets alight on the boulders of the Han
know-it-all, told you so New York
as an egret catches fish in the Han
broken Sheepshead bridges, flooded Battery tunnels
but egrets sing: touch the earth, see the sun
till Brooklyn basement no longer offends my nose
mountains of Tan-zih, bold and green hum on
till the silence of a false friend haunts me no more
false pride, no more.
the yankees, gone!
derek jeter drenched  in sewerage.
Taichung drenched in sunshine.
11-24-12

i'm stickin to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan (sung to "The Union Maid")

one and a half feet deep

smells very very sweet

though sewage seeped

in Sandy's feat

it's nothing we can't beat

the house wasn't swept away

the lights and heater stayed

though new york sucked

we weren't fucked

as armageddon played

no, you can't scare me

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

no you can't scare me

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

until the day i die

when daylight comes we'll know

the heroes and bozos

though fools may blame

their silly game

there's just one way to go

the Han River beckons me

as far as I can see

we'll stay right here

and feel no fear

let experts clean debris

no, you can't scare me

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

no you can't scare me

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

i'm sticking to the Taiwan

until the day i die

tan-zih sugarcane railroad trail

 tan-zih sweet sugarcane railroad trail, tracks removed 

and the Han River-Gully egrets alighting

trickling stream and butterflies

green with foggy mountains

paddies of rice ready to harvest

stray dogs cleverly crossing blighted roads

beyond the interlude of Leona's village home

across the busy avenue

lies the entrance right-of-way

near happy Philippines migrant factories

well-used two-way bike trail

'nei-hoe-ba' bikers' friendly nods 

thanks dear lord for riding me

let me love the world again

 the green fields of grain

hugging sugarcane by-way

10-26-12

bike-riding up a mountain road

bike-riding up a mountain road

rest with zest at the destination

shake, un-sting your hands

sweat and wipe the sweat

continue going twice as far

no fear of too far returning

breeze back down the mountain

to taichung with ease

10-27-12

how i got here: no idea

how i got here: no idea

a mini eiffel tower on a rooftop across the han

landmarks make the land familiar

tien-yuan village, what is it

cheng-li university I could find again

snaking river han hides its bends

trickling mountain stream heading to taichung

how can i get into her mountain source

found it

rode up to and then around it

sweet taichung, can't go wrong

hear me sing a happy mountain song

10-21-12

along the river han

Along the river Han

A bike path that goes on and on

I'm sorry I called you a 'wash'

Rice paddies and little farms

bamboo groves and elaborate temple

mountains melting into mist

boulders and meandering stream you are

capable of a rage

like a powerful sage

but sweet and warm in the morn

rolling from a place further on

I'll follow you there in your calm

you beautiful flow 

the river Han

now I know

                                                                         10-21-12

musical garbage trucks

musical garbage truck

very vermillion Chiang Kai-shek statue

in a cul-de-sac of hills

at the top of the Han River

 a farmers' market closes

after morning shopping

a place palm trees meet evergreens

and the Han an open sewer

Hurricane Sandy is far away

as my son in Shanghai plays with alcohol

my retirement turns Mondays

into Sundays

every morning 

birds chirp and Buddhists sing

what have i to add here

besides a bicycle, life, and wife?

i am the millionth ant on an abandoned court

scurrying hither and dither for a goal post

or has my goal been reached here

stopping to look and write a poem

home, James, go home

10-29-12

low-powered business

low-powered business Taiwanese style

suits on cycles Sunday morning, cigarette smoking

coffee drinking

meeting on a noisy intersection 

7-11 sidewalk cafe

what a way

prim and proper business ladies

in on the deal...

and then there's me

sitting with vitamin c

Taipei Times English paper

taking space, wondering

they don't have an office, coffee shop?

or do they feel cosmopolitan here

with 7-11 and the American guy

10-28-12

convergences

convergences
tanks, planes, sugarcane train tracks
martial music waifing from an air force base
the tan-zih trail's end, in da-ya, my friend
clouds in the distance clinging to low mountains
like whipped cream on the hills of west virginia
but not clouds icy after sandy
winds bend palm trees gently
but this isn't cuba, though it should 
be free of american garbage vulture
a bike path of happy peddling feet
no, this isn't flooded wall street

10-31-12

those wild western heroes: 2

medicine paint Catlin

who broke from them all; his wife, his parents,

to set up an easel for Lewis & Clark

and have an opportunity to view Plains Indians

'in their natural simplicity and beauty.'

beautiful Catlin

determined that the whole world see the American west

most thrilling scene he'd ever seen: meeting Comanches!

and he wanted us to see how thrilling!

but

interested not  the public

the government

 in his collection left rotting away.

no interest they in garnering sympathy

 for the race they would destroy.

for the paint brush that brought a generation 

visual impressions of the American west

who lays in Brooklyn's greenwood cemetery

with black moccasin spirit defending his tomb

  from ugly Parkman who liked his pictures,

wrote the Oregon Trail

followed by thousands,

and ended America.

those wild western heroes: 1

(dedicated to Dee Brown's The Westerners)

children of the sun

seeking seven cities of gold

behind a half-naked black man

in colorful head feather .

 ambassador Esteban he was

 with a pair of greyhounds running beside

and three hundred Mexican Indian servants, many handsome young women

with Mendoza and Coronado right behind

the obliteration

oh dear poor zunis at hawikuh pueblo

what could you have done

the cleansing had begun

we are all forgotten ones

crystal blue tommy james

crystal blue tommy james

morris levy and the mob

the reluctant father of bubble gum

(the shondells only a name)

fund-raising for bobby

phony psychodelia

read during regents week

stuck in the back of the pants

sweaty on the bicycle seat

self-indulging hanky panky

not eastern influenced

born again christian

tommy james