like forgotten debris i will sit outside

i made it up the river again
swiped sweat from my brow onto ant friends
hustling collecting sustenance to hibernate
or spend their winter wide awake

through an uncovered blowhole round

clearing obstructed deep sea diver sound
expelling mucus for the masses

which for their colony is molasses

not flicked tobacco butts that cause cancer

nor beetle nut fiber formicidae need for bulk

a candy wrapper is the answer

for corn syrup makes no ant sulk

on a path with stallions, cows, and leaf tiles cute

an urban planner thought he’d mention

sundial night lights cannot dispute

they ease my hypertension

silver serpents slither from ledge to grass

before groundskeepers make their pass
exposing hideouts they worked hard to burrow

snake-less tunnels causing sorrow

with tropical winter coming back
wind that whips, fireworks crack
empty Baolida-B bottles in the morn

that kept some lonesome rider warm

like forgotten debris i will sit outside

exposed to unforgiving elements wide
like Northeast foliage i return

as Taichung’s winter sunlight burns

September 20, 2017

she is not a lazy river

she is not a lazy river

keeping close to the bone

i can ride alongside her

heading uptown or going home

in the sunshine she looks greener

slippery along her shores

rainless blanched rocks miss her

a narrow avoidance from war

when pooled up she stagnates

waiting patiently for the rest

to push her over the flood gate

in their falling frothy zest

i could struggle through the tangled vines

to reach the other side

scamper up deceptive dykes

or with her flow to glide

she stays the course along the way

not a deviating spur

from where she ran originally

no storm could make her stir

so go with her or mountain climb

a wandering without trails

get lost and lose the source

for empty holy grails

that is why i will never leave her

no wanderlust have i

once in a lifetime a river knows me

and stars shine in the sky

September 19, 2017

when thoughts meander like dragonflies

when thoughts meander like dragonflies
swarming over the river
with the clock running down
the typhoon calls its last time out
the outcome still in doubt.

in this soccer game of life
who cares who wins
as nature works itself out
forgets a strategy
makes no plans
takes it as it comes
all in good time

dragonflies keep jerking
back and forth
faking out hungry swallows
before the storm river moans
tumbles torrents over boulders
moving its goalposts 
to where dragonflies might be hiding
without warning  
without mention
overtime or extension

Sept. 11, 2017

As I passed through hell on deck aft raised

As I passed through hell on deck aft raised,

I saw all left behind on the way astern.

Not knowing where they were going,

They kept on going.

I distance myself from their maleficent vibes:

The entrepreneur who has not repaid his debt,

The toastmaster who never stood on a soapbox,

The privileged youth paying lip service to greed,

The charlatan meditating his struggles away,

The fellow poetess that knows not another’s poem

The arthritic drummer who cannot climb into his castle…

I wave them bye as I resume my journey,

And rest near the river on my way upstream,

Feeling the love of those who waited my return

Lending buoyancy to the road rising under my wheels.

Wetting my eyes with tears of joy,

And power to my lungs as I sing:

My energy is at your taking,

You who have helped me through my unmaking.

When all seemed defeated, deflated and dried,

You pumped me up and brought rain to the sky.

The Lord’s beneficiary at your beck and call*,

Thanks you for allowing him back from his fall.

In Job’s hour of doubt and despair I never parted,

Up the river now ride I

To where my life restarted.

Sept. 7, 2017 

*dedicated to J. Bekken