seems to be
the only way
some know
of seeking shelter
one can call
home
those detours
distractions
attractions
on sidestreets
alleyways
causing delays
all adding to
the character of
the one who finally
arrives
Month: June 2014
A Philosophy of Saws by Liu Shahe
True. The saws are sawing wood,
But wood is also sawing the saw.
Thus saws are becoming dull–
The more they are sharpened the frailer they get,
And eventually they break.
The wood sawn into boards
Is fashioned into furniture.
Saws just break
And are discarded.
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin
a analogy for oppressed people everywhere to keep in mind
My Optimism by Shao Yanxiang
I’m an adult
My optimism is adult too
My optimism
Doesn’t smile all the time
It has rolled in the mud
It’s been struck on an anvil
It burst out into sparks under the hammer
It burned in a bonfire that almost went out
For a while people scornfully called it dead ash
It has been worked over with nightsticks
Jerked around every which way
Then floated downriver chilled to the bone
None of its fibres
Is tainted by even a speck of dust
It doesn’t wear coveralls
Not my optimism
My optimism
Isn’t a coat
That you sometimes put on and then take off
Nor does it have a pocket with a conscience inside
That you could sometimes bring with you
Or sometimes leave at home
My optimism
leaped into my arms
And it warmed it up with my body heat
After it had been trampled when those
Who had once embraced it cast it aside
I warmed it up
And it warmed me
Double-crossed
And reported on in secret
It grew up step by step
Yet without encountering obstacles
Without a taste of mean tricks
How could my optimism become adult?
Adult optimism
Isn’t always sweet
Sometimes its face is bathed in tears
I once heard it choking back sobs
But it woke out of its grief
Caught my hand
Comforted my heart
Propped my head in both hands
And tried gently to console me
With a tune that only parents would use for a child
Hello old friend inseparable as body and shadow
My long-suffering weather-beaten optimism
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin
Inscription Seen on a Trip to Bao Ji by Liu Shahe
Being misunderstood by someone
Is vexation
Being misunderstood by everyone
Is tragedy
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin
the cat moans
he wants attention
so moans
behind my back
hoping
I suppose
I’ll turn around
after 7 years
you’d think he’d know
I’m not so easily
seduced
Thomas Jefferson on newspapers
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers,
or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
packing up
putting books in boxes
photo albums too
made the mistake
of leafing through one
there
amid family friends
your picture
letting Frodo drink
from a garden hose
and now
an ache
in my chest
for the rest
of the day
of my life
this poem
is not about who
or even why
just when
and where
as in here
and now
as to how
that’s under
construction
or consideration
but definitely not
apprehension
or hesitation
’cause the who
it could have been
about
is definite
about why
it isn’t
from Purple Starfish by Xu Demin
And I could not help regretting
That I made decorative patterns on my desk
Of your solidified tears
Now I have set up a miniature gravestone
In the quiet of my heart
If I had not known of your worldly existence
My heart would not have grown this heavy
Not all kindness
Gets the respect it deserves
Not all injuries
Are premeditated a long time
O starfish
Let’s be friends
My heart will be your forest of coral
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin
excerpt from a work in progress: for David
Joe can’t take his eyes off Rebecca as she moves around his kitchen fixing what looks like a fruit salad. He didn’t know he had so much fruit here and then realizes that of course he didn’t, she brought it all. This is all new to him. He doesn’t think he’s ever had this much fruit at one time and he’s not sure his system can handle it. After all, it’s probably too healthy for him and who knows how his body will react. And then he thinks she is too healthy for him. It’s as if after being marooned on some lifeless planet, a rescue ship has arrived just at that moment when he not only has given up all hope of being rescued but might even be a little afraid of it. And she is that to him: both hope of a better life and fear of the consequences. His life, he realizes, was so much simpler when it only depended on whiskey.
Leonard Durso 