Election Day u.s.a.

Trump or trumped-up
scares the dickens out of the u.s.
Bernie or boycott
or get off the bus

american is just a wo/man
pension-less,impoverished,in debt
give the workers a working hand 
Bernie or boycott, you bet!

procreate with Bernie, plant a seed
start it over or let it rot
you will not have another chance
for a chicken in every pot

listen here, Putin, no black man shot
the snow job that Snowden was provoking
the world keeps passing the u.s. by
either get with it or keep on smokin'

China had opium easily brought
a nation too high to fight what they fought
dream on Bernie, cream on Bernie
or found napping you will be caught

stand up for Bernie, your only chance
or let Trump quicken the fall
over the Hill-artillery still
making fools again of you all 

may 2016

plum rain suddenly

i do not need a weatherman

to know which way the plum rain blows

it is like blue lotus rising fragrantly from the Nile

slender green fingers of rice paddies drinking

awaiting a rescue by the one who loves me

from my sheltered bench

of porous wooden slats

within sight of the swift and narrow Han

fed by mountain streams looking

like white water rapids of mini-Colorado

with egrets on her shores 

waiting for worms to arise

like migratory ducks under an overpass

cleaning dirty wet feathers

after blue plum rain clouds burst upon us

 as vainly i cover a book of Seven Flowers

hunched over a vulnerable laptop 

with no place to go

or place i would rather be

breathing these tropical smells

of  lush green Taichung deeply

and no other tongue would i rather speak

than the language of passing storms 

no time would i rather have

than my own good time

staying dry in my lover's eye

near the mighty River Han

6-7-16

 

www.readingsandridings.jimdo.com

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

Copyright © 2016 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved.

little falls sound like big falls

little falls sound like big falls

natural falls sound like artificial

mountain falls like falls from a skyscraper

steppe falls or one long swoosh

falls into the sea like a river or stream

the bigger they are

the harder they fall, it seems

larger falls more thunderous

lowly flows over rocks and vines

irrigate more softly

the land not washed in time

rice paddy water lingers

sustenance grows 

let it flow through me

whichever way i may go

without looking upstream 

without looking down

whether airborne showers

or underground

 let me not be stagnant 

evaporated, molten

 let me not be wasted moisture

frozen frozen

5-2-16

perish the fresh

perish the fresh

in one life long day

nothing comes 

that does not go away

the river's illusion 

passing through

in spite of you

in passing time

does not follow dates

a straight line

in any situation

making hours minutes

excited heartbeat fast 

slow when tired

thirty-two years of teaching

into a forty-six minute lesson

the river surges

pushed by a storm

down mountain slopes

into fountains' water 

in weekend parks

and Old Faithful families

up from the depth of the cauldron 

here in a flash

now gone 

4-21-16

hearing multiple birds calling

hearing multiple birds calling
drowned by the swoosh of vehicles passing
smelling the fragrance of plants and flowers growing
between bursts of exhaust pipes burning
feeling windy breezes freshening
seeing sunny skies enlightening
ringing ear reminding
lunch with wife inviting
lines on my face expressing
pleasure with the human race
mixed feelings 
nothing needs fixing
or commercial twisting 

4-9-16

national Taiwan parks

the roots of Chinese medicine?
a respect for strange formations,
proper spirit interaction,
showering down from trees.
provincial inspiration?
from Japanese intervention,
aboriginal affection.
melange of
Soviet youth corps campers,
and American recreational
gazing at the wonder,
daredevils doing documentaries,
surviving reality shows,
and buying souvenirs.
European's dividing it from culture; 
God's creation serving man's purpose,
the bible's fruitful injunction.  
to harness all for science,
ravaging her for industry,
the pathway to obituary.
through Western Chauvinism
that tells you
"trees cannot in a forest fall
without you there to view it."
unnatural detachment 
from the "qi" energy
that unites us all 

3-22-16

watching youth harvesting Han River

watching youth harvesting Han River
beating the water with sticks
gathering nets of living luck
disturbing the flowing stream
but causing not in wakes a ripple
my reflection upon the surface
as the waters flow below
while potato fields lie fallow behind 
for passing riders to take what may
why did the farmers who planted go
leaving us all here unwanted
no one picking fruit off my branches
i stay put, abundant but unfulfilled
the next generation moving on ahead
shall i fold my hands in my lap
listen to the wind 
the roar of marching wheels 
take evasive action
counting notches on my belt
with a fisherman's patience
knowing waters pass his way
the catch will be passing
if he leaves his line inside

3-8-16