The wind is blowing in the wrong direction,
But the sun still sets in the west.
We were called in to repair others errors,
Victim of their own superstitions,
But ended up discrediting ourselves.
They, forever deformed.
In a vain attempt at treatment,
After the most careful consideration,
We strove upward, only to get bad names,
For lack of their proper fengshui.
There was no way out but resignation,
Property returned to its original state.
We set them adrift with their element,
In a current they will not see coming.
On our raft of vicissitude with disinclined neighbors,
Unable to pull together and cooperate,
Taiwanese culture, dilapidated and lost,
We, their foreign whipping post, never more.
Doing what we can to ignore ignorance,
By listening to music through ear buds,
Playing pinball, drinking tequila, reading books,
But it invades us like seeping tea,
Stranded in HGTV, Travel Channel,
Watching baseball before we unravel.
Stay off the chaotic streets.
Find safe places to eat.
Me and my lady, will not be beat.
Ride my bicycle to the pool,
She to Pilates and yoga class,
Without connections, it can be cruel.
Without close friends to be distracted,
Laugh and get drunk and high,
It is not easy in Taiwan.
Losing social graces conforming to the norm,
There is nowhere civil to go,
Never on a crowded weekend; oh no!
Only Mandarin textbooks reach me,
The dividing line to which I teach
And the pleasures of McDonald’s meet-ups
Far away from our condo
A place language can be exchanged
Without exchange, nothing to arrange.
Life for a retired expat can be strange,
With careless indifference everywhere.
Superstitious ghost money burning,
Uncooperative neighbors, sloppy drivers,
Cars and scooters road rules circumvented.
Walkers without sidewalks, parking how one pleases…
If only I had someone to make it easy,
Some face to face distraction,
To supplement my faceless Facebook friends...
Though I write in rhyme, I read alone
Like hash marks on a prison wall
Out of Taiwan must I go to a land I can
believe in?
I am going to China to see for myself.
What have I got to lose?
But it would mean losing you, my love,
You would not join me ‘cross the Strait.
How could I go where you would not follow,
Or lead somewhere we both cannot feel better?
Another place in Taiwan, you cannot forget,
With clean breezy air and dry sunshine,
We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when?
I know a beach in Penghu where it never ends.
I know a beach in Penghu where it never ends.
Let the wind blow in the wrong direction,
The sun still rises in the east; sets in the west.
November 26. 2019
Copyright © 2019 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved
