Too many adrift,
on seas of loneliness.
Water sounding
for another way.
All we have left,
is blue-shadow dances
and hanging lanterns.
No more than patterns
on the ocean sands.

A poem and a sketch from today .

Sitting alone,
Pearl Jam on the radio
and Buddha looking lost.
Letters of the alphabet,
hanging in sea air.
No more planted wisdom,
and the mountains grow dark.
So I give a silent teaching.

A poem written this afternoon, with some pictures I took walking around…. reflecting on my continue exile.

Who am I, without
the stone of exile?
Who sees what I write,
the words that bind me.
Thoughtful, to harbour knowledge,
now I fall into silence.
Walking the streets,
and the streets are new.
Listening to distant laughter,
a new death wind.

qrf

In dark times, it is easy to forget that art, literature and culture are important. I spent the afternoon at the culture center in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. This helped me connect the the beauty of our shared humanity. I wrote this poem a few moments ago.

A way begins,
on the other side.
A thousand hollow words,
or one line bringing
peace and love?
Each day I meditate on this.
Or so it seems,
in my experience.

A poem I wrote today. Inspired by waking around

In Kaohsiung I wait on life,
and see the moans of delight.
The woman sitting in front of me,
smoking endlessly.
The man with no shoes on his feet,
saluting a clear sky.
And a sun, half-asleep – wandering
why things still have to be this way.
I wouldn’t add or subtract one thing.
The distraction fits, a long way
from home.

Good morning from Taiwan. I woke, checked the news and wrote this poem.

Overcast morning,
Stephen Stills singing
“Love the One You’re With”
on Taiwan Radio.
The WHO now declares
Covid-19, a pandemic.
And I, alone – shall wonder
why I worried.

Along this road everybody goes,
a solitary spring that
shines and shines.
Such a fuss, when nothing lasts.
No more than driftwood,
washed up on Cijin Beach.

I saw the bird, looked for a moment or two…and wrote this poem just now.

It’s weary vision,
the human cycle – tied
and fettered to a pole.
A dark and doomed domain,
no single soft bird singing.
Our tender looks,
reveal a better way.
Feelings shared, so sweet.
Discovered with a knowing love.

Fooyin University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and heavy rain this morning. Listening to the rain, I wrote this poem… about loss and moments of isolation.

Trapped inside my room,
pain builds in my heart.
Disappearing into a purple mist,
a lost and lone flicker.

A bird caws,
but how many people
know what it means?
Only our love is ever lasting.

hdrpl

hdrpl

The sun comes up,
to erase the taste of rain –
and days of dancing dandilions.
It is sad to know this.

Lost love, a single letter to hold.
Given as a gift,
and bliss at the peak.
It was always you.

Sunlit women’s day
in Kaohsiung.
Pink-haired mothers,
and grey-haired daughters.
” Funu Jie Kuaile”,
I said to the beautiful lady.
For a moment,
there was peace singing.
And, I wished you were here.