Friday, May 31, 2013

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


Thursday, May 30, 2013

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
 
 


Sunday, May 19, 2013

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
 
 
 


Friday, May 17, 2013

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

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

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

Download Photo on 2-24-13 at 8.40 AM.jpg (201.8 KB)

5-14-13
  


Saturday, May 11, 2013

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
 
 


Sunday, May 5, 2013

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


Friday, May 3, 2013

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