Walking by the river

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My drawing.

That’s how it starts, a walk by the River Wei.

Tree branches reaching for the sky,

catching the breeze.

A single Red-crowned Crane flits by,

making its way back home….. the last time.

Then it starts, conversations grinding away

drifting on the unseen currents.

How I wish I could fly…..

Talking to the dying

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My drawing.

Just by the hospital,

I met a man

who told me he talks to the dying.

Those sleepless souls

who have lost their shape.

“You feel deeply” he said.

“Just fragments” said I.

As I left, I thought

time and future have meaning.

And watched,

as the others lined-up

to talk with the man

….. trying to act casual.

The strange death of a fish

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I saw the fish,

as I approached the river.

Black flies gathering,

leaves filling in the tangle.

Empty plastic bottles,

that cried like tears…..too recent to rot.

‘Poor soul’, I thought…..floating in the river.

A space between bricks,

and nobody minded at all.

Hard Times

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My drawing this evening

I read some lines
“agony, always agony”
Some people think this
trying to face the sun
in the morning.
Others, when I ask them for help.

For some, just being dead
would be fair enough.
Words like ‘poetry’ and ‘rigor’
are very tiresome, in the wrong hands.

So, while the universe
tries to swallow us all….
I shut away nothing.
And listen for the birds singing.

Death wants more

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Mt drawing.

I do not intend to stop for death.
To wait silently,
as a spider in a dank hole.
Not really knowing,
and at the end…. knowing.

No kneeling down,
filled with tears for me…..
Perhaps death is kind,
and will wait….. for a while.

But, I will dispute
my rendezvous with death
for as long as possible.

Or at least until spring returns,
with rustling shade.
And brings back those bright blue days.

Sleeping in the sun

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My drawing. I came across a man sleeping rough this evening and tried to talk/ Language was an issue….but I tried.

I saw him on the street,
sleeping rough.
Right next to the flowers,
their presence smells…..
like poverty.

A few lousy coins,
given by a passerby.
Enough to buy a drink.
He drinks baijiu,
in the shade of a peach tree.

He told me
he wants to buy the moon.
I thought….. he needs
a lot more coins for that.
So I walked on…..

Waiting for me

My pictures: Taken this evening. I discovered a new cafe on my evening walk…and wrote this poem.

Writing,

until there’s nothing left

of the light.

Outside gnats rise and fall,

on a spoke of faded sun.

 

Salt wind ripples,

to let death be.

Your hair drawn back,

a door to yesterday.

The whole dream through.

Clouds of pain

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My picture.

Tell me of pain,

what do you know?

I can recollect

when the shadows

of the night came out.

I have never killed,

only ever loved.

Yet, there has been

so much pain…..

with passion

and prolonged silence….

Tell me what you know,

about pain?