My picture of a photograph I took in Vietnam celebrating the role of women in the history of this country.
Stillness
Medical Humanities
Kodokushi
Kodokushi (孤独死) or lonely death refers to a Japanese phenomena of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time…. sadly… this is not just a Japanese phenomena .. My view is that we need to talk more about why many die alone.. and quality in death…..
Last night I read about ‘Kodokushi’,
the politics of despair.
Grunts and strains upward,
counting the stars alone.
A 69-year old man
discovered three years after his death
….. no death poem, only the longest night.
An indented grey pillow,
on a winter sickbed.
No one to watch the threads of a life unfold,
many not even knowing.
I though, how will I die?
A soap bubble, before it bursts
or a chill before moonlight
….. the end of a long day?
An exhausted me, timeless drudgery.
Confusion, misery and apprehension
with only the slurping sounds.
Maybe I will write a poem, just before.
A simple happening…..
and yet, a drop of hope grown
…..a man’s end and mound of gleaming words.
Understanding
A picture sent to me by a friend in England.
I talked with my friend from Anyang this morning.
Upon a background of fading moonlight,
and recalling times gone by.
Once, we both had pure and romantic hopes… and lost them someplace.
You walk…. I walk.
Now there remains a heart in deep sadness….. estranged from this yellow land.
So I sent her a daffodil, from England…..
to pull along her threads of worries
and clean up these ancient wounds.
Somewhere over here
A picture sent to me by a friend in Harbin, China. Northern China is experiencing late winter snow……..
Everybody run, run, run…..
a friend told me about death today.
Already naked
my dreams go wandering.
A vast empty autumn night
…..my very own constellation.
It reached the clouds in the sky,
an empty sickbed
and impotent doctors…..
watching the clock dial glow.
I awoke before the end,
a split second spirit.
And cast a cold eye….
I will not sell death today.
Afterglow
My Picture: A accident on the way home this evening…our coach hit a car…all is well…but the fragility of life is all around us.
He sung this song
‘Sometimes I feel like a motherless child….. a long way from home…..
It took me back…..
Apples….. bruised apples
late October’s final song
an old dog by a cracking fire
nursed toward a loving light
grasping at the sky
even your life is tender
And then the call is made
a dull material world
numbed by mouth
and the song…..
‘call my brother…….’
How to spend a Sunday
A picture sent to me by a friend yesterday.
Before sleeping I often consider
what I would do, what to be the next day.
Shall I be a mother, beautiful and delicious… flying kites in the park
as the sun sets on another unrequited day?
Shall I be a teacher, not much interested in another awakening
of a long dead language to come?
Shall I be a writer trying to meet others as lonely as myself?
Sometimes there is a strange justice, working for something….
So, I marked some English papers…..
I am exactly what I am supposed to be.
Marriage is a life of sharing/婚姻是共享的人生
My Picture: My friends sister was married today…I was invited to the wedding ( I also know the bride and groom )…they asked me to write a poem for their wedding day…it was a challenge. So…I wrote this poem, it was translated into Chinese…and then they asked me to read the poem on stage…..which I did… with a translator repeating my words in Chinese for the audience…and then I presented them a typed framed version of the poem as a gift A wonderful day….and a wonderful experience for me.
Love is a great thing
it makes what is heavy light,
and shines the darkest street.
Never satisfied, it burns and burns
and shakes the sky.
All the rivers sound on this day,
that lonely isolation a distant road.
A journey…that is proposed now
fills the house, and makes the moon dance.
And the crowds weep and laugh,
to see such love strike away the chains
of memories from our souls…….
now joined in permanent commitment.
Leo named Jessie his queen,
her youth and beauty at the highest temple.
And Jessie named Leo her knight,
accustomed to courage and flush of love’s light.
And this love will endure; they want to live like trees.
Yulan magnolia blazing through the cobalt sky,
dappled with colour .
Exuberantly budding, year after year
gentle and passionate.
爱情是伟大的
它赋予沉重以轻松，
给昏暗的街道以光亮。
永无止境，不断燃烧
甚至震撼整个苍穹。
今天的河流俱为之咆哮，
昨日的单身岁月已然远去。
一段旅程……从今日起便要踏上
将这里填满幸福，月亮也为之欢欣起舞。
人们感动落泪，开怀大笑，
因为看到爱情打破了往昔的锁链
冲破了灵魂的枷锁……
现在汇成了永久的承诺。
Leo让Jessie做了他的女王，
Jessie青春年华，美丽灿烂。
Jessie将Leo变成了她的骑士，
Leo勇敢无畏，热情洋溢。
他们的爱会永恒; 就像树一样去生活吧。
好似玉兰树在钴蓝色天空中绽放，
充斥着它色彩的斑驳。
旺盛萌芽，年复一年
温柔而又充满激情。
China dream
My Picture
A dog watches me,
across a busy road
across our age and
difference.
Tree-by-tree,
the winter fog fades.
By song alone,
a spot of sunlight.
When I hear it,
I’m older now.
The wind that brought me
here, goes on.
Surrounding my bones.
Failing winter
My Picture: Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China.
A few clods of snow
and life will be forgotten.
A small farce with a song,
downcast and weary.
The only hope…..
spring sun and daffodils in windows.
A lucky fortune wrapped in fish paper,
and then a rock… turned underfoot.
Oven- burnt trees, will move and roll
with joys of life…
and make us love someone
this way and that….
While each poem emerges
from despair, a new first line.
A woman’s day
My Picture: Local Artist Painting, Vietnam.
A Wandering Poet 