such thoughts as these dare not be trod

such thoughts as these dare not be trod
though enter and stand do they
the scooter which stops annoys my book
but only waters the plants of May

the men she ponders in her heart
tucked away discreet
playboys' names are mentioned
under rugs she sweeps

so when a rocky period comes
jostles composure's stance
she moves with me shadowy
void of real romance

i ride the bike and leave her be
follow not inquiry
for all i know is what i see
no further look is good for me

the end shall come when i am played
she steals my heart or house
for if i look and see loose crumbs
i'll know if i've a mouse

when workmen trample o'er my feelings
she smooths them out from my rough dealings
their side she takes from an alien's
i don't own the road again

the cable van still parked outside
communication won't hurt pride
a nap i took and had a dream
that all was not as it all seemed

when i go and when i'm gone
things may happen going on
when i'm home i mind the dirt
out of sight a flirt can't hurt

long ago her sister hid
and gotten better since a kid
takes pride does she in keeping down
friends tell secrets without sound

what do i want what do i need?
pinball bumps sincerity
jukebox jitterbug makes whoopee
clean my mind by bodhi tree

the road ahead it twists so long
ride the bike and sing a song
what's it worth for generations?
the river flows through trepidations

she's got the love like a vacation
love me like life's a vacation
love vacation love vacation
lovely lovely love vacation

6-1-13

Change Return Success

Wildeve gambled from Christian

The Reddleman won it back

Gave it all to Thomasin

who gave Clym his stack

 

spring kept the Han river rolling

fisherman sat by as egrets waded

plum rains and river cranes worked

dog packs forged the rushing stream

 

 rainy river evaporates in Taichung sun

Han moonscape void of anyone

packs are gone, a lonely yelp wails

fisherman needn't bother with empty pails

 

sixty-four hexagrams over bedroom doors

end-term parties, graduations, moving on

Taichung dry and dripless with ruptured main

the lick in Brooklyn gets mystic heated rain

 

5-29-13

 

 



Dragonflies Hover About Me

dragonflies hover about me

like helicoptors on breaking news

they've all come out to move about

 the raging Han's Colorado River impression

black wild Taiwan dogs pushed downstream

  and fording back for a mate in their pack

river stones dredged for torrential plum showers

dozers don't doze for one who writres flowers

working on Sunday rewarded or scolded

 in the niche of house-warming, coming and going

return of the native son, the reddleman spurned

Eustasia and Thomasin couldn't care less

Clym i am, ready to learn

5-19-13

 

 



She Cuts Corners on the Fireplace

she cuts corners on the fireplace without a word

but it doesn't matter since there's no chimney

the firebox has glowing red LED logs

but for the wires to the power outlet

no electricity

 

she saves money not moving the kitchen faucet

and not re-painting our too green bedroom

of an old condo, large and low-priced

in the neighborhood we love to live

no gambling

 

the fourth floor entrance not directly in

 no door at the end of a hallway

condo shaped rectangular, not irregular

not on the quake line nor near a river

no superstition

 

suggestions taken and agreement

 bumper pool table or pinball machine

patio door for cats is out

no rain inside or injury

no recklessness

 

brother and father live closer to visit

Han River  nearby bike ride

bushiban, stores, night market

even garage space for a car to park it

no inconvenience

 

air-con turns on when i enter a room

home straightforth so she knows where i am

compromise and defer to her personal likes

she know there's still something i'm looking for

no lost loneliness

5-19-13

 

 

 



Soon to Go - Soon to Return

the table is set with game board upon
in a bag enclosed unknown letters
every sound from our English lips
who picks one closest to "A" matters not
pick seven, maybe a blank
but we're so easy called away
let the letters stay
like money in a bank

here comes Brooklyn, going back
long long flight long long wait
continental twenty-four hour
time slowing down speeding up
Sheepshead emerging from the flood
empty and encased in mud
open up our favorite doors
retile that rotten basement floor
smoke that smoke forevermore

people there are hugged and kissed
touchless Asia, handshakes limp
"step aside a little" becomes "excuse"
false emotions will abuse
Bloomburg carved out Brooklyn's heart
iceburg hamburg served in suburbs
to hold you, dear daughters
worth every mile a minute
and squeeze out every litre of love in it

when we return to Shui-Jing Street
to once again Nala and Sweeney-Poo meet
they'll wonder where we've been the while
meow their meows and smile their feline smiles
that tabled board game we rudely interrupted
we'll play on due time like we'd never left it
enjoy the ride with my rider by my side
in Brooklyn and Taichung, a world so wide
laughing and loving with nothing to hide
 

Regurgitation Blues

throwing up and coming back

like a hairball from a cat

for a magnet you are steel

back to make the deal come real

 

deadend Streat is looking lost

manly-girl's well-Hung boss

stray Han dogs looking for a bitch

sorry boys, i'm not that rich

 

jobber lao-ban pro he ain't

cannot tell the glue from paint

nailing tubes and sniffing glue

matching up a white or two

 

speaking ye up, the back hoe come

raking stones, the Han succumbs

why's he coming back to me

he's got to piss and i'm his tree

 

heartburn reflux coming up

regurgitation in the cup

the birds have flown and fish can't see

 Taichung smog indefinately

 

now i'm the man with a paper in my hand

telling them hard times are about to end

won't regurgitate old Wobbly news

if you don't judge me by my shoes 

 

5-17-13

 

 

 

 



A Lull is not a Lullaby

a lull is not a lullaby

the rest is not arrested

still i'm still i drink my fill

the best can still be bested

 

time to kill's not murdered by

if i've the will to swat a fly

go digging deep and you will find

a problem that could blow my mind

 

children act as children do

when adults try a pleasure new

a peaceful time can still be free

a lullaby viscosity

 

neighborhood of brides and grooms

where they are now we'll meet them soon

retirement's not new to me

it's taken half a century

 

5-16-13

Glass

glass on the faux firebox

glass in the room partition

glass stove on counter

glass around the patio

glass on the sliding doors

glass on the bathroom showers

glass cover ceiling lights

glass face on the hours

glassy squeegy cleaning

glassy shiny gleaming

 

5-14-13

The River Gets So Cloudy

the river gets so cloudy

when storms pound it upstream

narrow white washed over stones

 through most unnatural streams

mechanical dredging

where they meet resistance

 yielding to their plan

becoming calm and glassy

in a fluid flowing

after workmen go away



5-14-13

  



Happy Mothers Day!

on this, your first Mothers Day in Taiwan

dear Amanda

Simone, Renna, Ariel too

you are the mother they think of today

the serious mother who chose to stay in Brooklyn

to be witness and listen to their hopes and joys

even without a cell phone, tablet or Skype

a million miles away

they can still feel every word you say

and, like me, they believe

the day you started our home

was the brightest day of our lives

 

 

Happy Mothers Day!

 

 

5-12-13

Caution: Catepillars Crossing

caution: catepillars crossing

arrest butterflies

plow down wild flowers

strip Han River banks

unearth worms and larve

termite and mosquito

thru stony soil run mountain waters

 

Komatsu bulldozers doing dirty deeds

dumb damned dump-truckers

plowing by ordinances done

destroying dem weeds all day

and the river keeps a talkin'

but they never hear a word it say

(the egrets smile)

 

5-12-13

 

 



Wood Furniture, No Game

games by-passed for the price to pay

bling bling bells and buzzers unplugged

conscious  that the end of the dream approaches

angry at betraying the evanescence of passion

relieved not occupied with remedies to boredom

no slot in my mind for the penny to drop

consumer waste short-shrifting myself

my lady and friends know my life's on a shelf

 

look at the wood and the way he carved it

asked for the price, he said 'almost free'

i just couldn't believe my ears

that some craftsman's dream

met a carpenter's smooth curves

like my darling's slope into her thigh

show me no factory with drill bits and nails

and grant my pen the power or artisan honor

stain my grain with tears of rain and manna

 

5-6-13



Afton; A Natural Place of Wonder Be

Afton, a natural place of wonder be

woodsy paths under touchstone trees
though the paths she did not arrange
Kathy is clearing them all
and repairing broken window panes
inherit the love of the dearly departed
the old barn and chicken coop
and walks down the country road
view of the lake at sunrise
a well deserv'd prize

 

            did we almost in Seneca Falls reside

in three-gabled mansion chandliers inside

lover of architectural history

more like a cold comfortless enclosure

igniting the lifeless guilded structure

from missions to the other world

as servants passed into empire stateless

a summer home in the finger lakes

where the middle finger of fate hesitates

church bells a-ringing on the weightless

 

 immigrant breathing life into a lady stout

return of the native working out

changing the shape and sharpening focus

pings of space and pangs of krokus

gardens and bustle, bike paths and eateries

re-connecting to familiar landscapes

being a part of a Taichung growing

forging new paths through smothering air

accepting what is without derision

our eyes see the glory, this is our vision

5-4-13