My Picture” Yesterday at Harbin Airport – due to snow in Henan…delays, delays and delays…..
No snow in Harbin.
poems
Harbin Airport
My Picture: Taken this evening at Harbin Airport.
Dark against the morning,
a chance meeting.
Cold air all around us,
ice and sadness now flown.
A spoken goodbye.
Last night in Harbin
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My Pictures: Taken today…I will fly back to Xinxiang tomorrow after 10 days in Harbin.
I travel with my thoughts
and the moments I find.
Legs grown warm from walking,
and re-presenting life.
Frozen Songhua, half-light
gives sweet solace……
From this wandering soul,
half-naked in twilight cold.
Darkness hides the sunset
My Pictures: Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Imperial Japan. I visited this museum today, just outside Harbin…it was harrowing….some of the pictures I took…are difficult to post here. The railway brought the people for experimentation, torture and death. Most of the ‘crimes’ were carried out by Japanese medical personal against the Chinese people. I wrote this poem shortly after I left the site:
Trees and sky darkened this morning.
Frost hardened tears,
a snake to the railway track.
I heard the pain, shout for a cure.
The doctors gave no refuge, no rest.
Thorns and needle pricks,
a bee pointed stinger.
Bare feet walking on ash covered ground,
fresh on the day.
Now, who tells this tale….
of snow cones in the dark
and souls left hanging from the ceiling.
Between the barbed wire and trees still bent…
all that is left of this dark protrusion
….. is rain filled graves and half-light streets.
To tell us how it was.
Walking the streets in Harbin
My Pictures: Harbin, China this evening.
Ice melts on the road,
full moon shining on.
Step-by-step, still I slip.
Hopes dimmed in time.
The streets lights casts shadows
…. a bitter loss.
Your face, a spring breeze
and warm change.
A river cracks
My Pictures: Songhua River Bridge this evening. Harbin, China.
Walking alone on the Songhua River,
a soft hiss and a crack.
White sides to the moon,
and ice stars all around.
A quick slide in half-light.
And in bridge shadow,
reflected memories, no sun.
Cold air fills with strong scent….
…… beginning to thaw.
Sunset in Harbin
My Picture: Taken this evening in Harbin, China.
Sunset, becomes half a moon.
Winter is almost over.
A short pause for deep thought,
makes brilliant the darkening trees.
Snow people of Harbin
My Pictures: Taken this evening , Songhua River, Harbin, China.
Away from the crowds,
I found the snow people.
Once snowflake beautiful,
now silent and waiting for the longest night.
Just moments before,
made with tiny hands and love.
And wishing fame would last for ever.
Now those clouds, war horses on the march…
will have their day.
At first, they would not talk to me
but I reached to the clouds.
I wanted to know what the snow people
thought about life and death.
The British one found me and whispered in my ear……
“ Why are you here… there is only endless change, and no destinations”.
Awake in Harbin
My Picture: Gogol Street, Harbin, China – Taken this evening
The star is still shining
waiting in silence for the dawn.
Before, a night of solitude
so unsleeping….
A faint light as stillness descends.
At least for you, I still seek the sun.
Our life, our hope
a scattered longing
in Harbin darkness.
Zhongyang Street
My Pictures: A cold evening in Harbin
A Wandering Poet 