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