A picture I took inside Labrang Monastery , Xiahe, Gansu Province. I wrote this poem this morning.
China
Tattered memories
To be lonely, and raise my face
to a mirror on life.
To gaze at the stars every night
and lament for nothing.
Is to waver between
life and death – and
become a single-body.
That moment, when even
the rushing streams cease
all their flowing
And the hills and mountains,
overturn.
Encased by winter
My picture; Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
On a journey, ill
my mind wanders.
I thought about you,
in the heart of the fire.
The sky cracking,
adrift between the
earth and heaven.
A sudden death with eyes,
and the last nights of nights
I have tasted life…..
to its utmost.
Talking trees of Xinxiang
My picture: Taken yesterday evening.
Adrift between the earth and sky,
I asked the trees what they were talking about.
“Today, this moment
and how to leave the world
….. there’s nothing in it”
They replied in a chorus.
I knew then, this was the right place.
Nothing more.
Nothing more.
In between dreams
My Chinese friend said to me
“I want to study medicine at Tsinghua University
……but I’m not good enough…”
So I told her about a man in the 15th Century,
who wanted to fly above the bright skies.
A glory desired, and such assurances ran.
Upon a grey river and chatter of stars,
I suggested she talk with the moon.
Who never searches for sleep,
and tickles the dormant dreams
of those with clear firmament glows.
Solidarity
I took a trip to Zhengzhou yesterday, the capital city of Henan Province….I took in some sights and a slice of history. Then I wrote a poem.
Now faintly sounds a drumming,
down the broken trail.
The little men and women
reaching for each other, stir the empty clearing.
A chorused sound and screams of dying pain,
forward….. without forgetting.
Waiting for me
hdrpl
rbsh
hdrpl
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.
daydream
My picture
a very, weary day flies
sailing in concrete seas
with deep sleep a faint howl
cherished dreams take flight
Spring feeling
A day in the Chinese countryside with some friends….very beautiful and mindful.
That spring feeling and trudge around,
still hunts me after all these years.
I found myself in the flowers
wishing you were here,
enjoying the cool of the evening
….. one more time.
And the thickets are for the small moments, and the first visiting Chinese
beautiful rosefinch
….. the scent is already in the air.
From those endless dry winters,
and the final parting.
A little wild cherry tree,
and the deep smell of rose blossom
….. pushes back the sadness.
And as the bush warbler sings,
I remember those days…. worn out with love and sensuous kisses
All site lost of the throbbing pain and
swollen cheeks… soon to come.
Invisible birds
fznor
My Pictures: Last night I was taken to a farm, just outside Xinxiang….a very special place. An organic farm…I talked with the farmer and local people….and found a little solitude in the Chinese countryside.
A Wandering Poet 