looking to the hills through cannabis eyes

looking to the hills through cannabis eyes

its shrouded face unveiled to see

dreams in realized retirement

in Taichung  City by the river

senses anesthetized, set free

with a dollar hobos can roll a joint

smoke like vaporized expats entrenched

 hermetically sealed from locality

staring into space over the river gap

with stupid mushroom eyes laughing back

too late to saddle and ride the sky

too much weight for butterflies

the river coursing through my veins

streaming my conscious thought of train

bursting my bubble of smokey flame

through legalized insurgence

 swiped tickets along the journey

on the mode of transportation

better a pipe passed sociably

than steeped in dust, held in gravity 

when i am back to myself 

and the world no longer rotates around my dream

i will retrace the steps passed the temptress 

resist the aroma of a long forgotten pizza 

that triggers flashbacks  of dependence

March 18, 2019

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          Purchase "Unnatural Beauty;Poems from the Han Riverside" here.

Copyright © 2019 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved.

As Darkness' Brush Strokes Creamy Clouds

As darkness' brush strokes creamy clouds

And beckons me a chill reminder,

Are they passing over my life's dry socket? 

“It looks like a storm is coming.” 

I believe her and do not await the downpour

I beat it with the wind at my back 

to where the devil  has no home

Race against the tide of changing winds

No reason to hide but to begin 

(“Let me tell you 'bout a dream
You know I saw her in a dream

Oh, St. Charles sings
Sings about love
St. Charles, tell me tonight
Won't you tell me 'bout love
You know I saw her in a dream)

'Twould be worse than a wet-nurse

Milking a screaming storm

Squeezed from ominous southbound clouds 

Absorbed into the parched brick path

Darkening sunny ground by tropical trees

That feel the breeze and bend in respect

Rather than snap, forth and back.

Then she warned me and I return

Towards louder the beat of her heart

(“There was China, in her eyes
In a silk and velvet disguise
She was movin' like a lady
Lookin' like a dragon princess
She was walkin' by the river
Rollin' in a rhythm of love
I never felt like this before”)

She moves me and I move

No sense in staying to warn strangers

Of the danger in taking disinterested parts

Not in the interest of loving workers

I feel the temperature drop around the river

See the riders heading wrong upstream 

Donning their ponchos without a dream

Only she interests me

And I hurry home to be

(“Oh, St. Charles sings
Sings about love
St. Charles, tell me tonight
Won't you tell me 'bout love
You know I saw her in a dream.

She is the storm bringer,
The storm changer.”)

I will “Tie myself down to the main mast
Like Ulysses in the water storm
Winds comin' down the main line
Tie myself down to the main mast
Tie it down with love.”
I feel it, “stormin',” I feel it coming,
I can feel it now, “stormin'”
I feel it coming, “stormin'”
From the safety of our home. 

(Thank you, Jefferson Starship)

March 3, 2019

www.readingsandridings.jimdo.com

Purchase "Unnatural Beauty;Poems from the Han Riverside" here.

Copyright © 2019 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved.