with every step
the pretentious
new shoes
jeer
at the memory
of
the old

Maybe it’s the only way
to pop the dud days of the gone year
like popcorn

yet in lighting a string of firecrackers
hands that survived bullets and shells
still tremble uncontrollably
as if facing a fierce enemy

all old resolutions
fall with the crystal ball
during the Times Square countdown
----5--4--3--2--1--
0

YES

0
the best number
to start the new year

a shiny newborn balloon
pure and innocent
rises with joy amid magnificent fireworks
carrying no new prejudices
or old hatred

it never favors one over the other
regardless of skin colors --
white, yellow, brown or black
  
not even the most discriminating eye
can find any bone
to pick with

-- in memory of Senator John McCain

after surviving a POW camp in Vietnam
you return to your country

YES! YOU ARE A HERO

after surviving the prison
of endless human hatred and conflicts  
you return to Heaven

YES! YOU ARE A HERO

during this year
you'd better not
think one thing
say another
do something else

we all can see right through you
with our perfect vision --
20/20

Lying back to back on a plate
an orange
and a banana
each dream
its own dream

Cézanne comes over
gives the banana
a half turn
Its graceful inner curve now
embraces the orange’s plumpness

Instantly the air softens
the color fluid
and rich

The shutter flashes
your instant smile

In a mildewed evening years later
you stare at the yellowed album
and sigh

Happy days are gone

1.

leaping upward
it finds plenty of room
in the world above

smothering lush green
suddenly lightens

the irrepressible joy of life
springs
up
and down
up
and down

2.

leaping upward
it is pleasantly surprised
to find

the sky is still so immense
the earth is still so vast
the summer is still so green

life is still undefined

With a soft moist tongue
you set up a sensuous trap
waiting for careless little me
to drop in

and be shocked
at the discovery
that I am such
a tasty prey

buzzing
in a sweltering
evening marsh
a swarm of mosquitoes
vexed and unsettled
waits
for a cool swoosh
from a toad

Buying

unwrapping
the package
layer
after
layer

he finds
he has bought himself
a life
of
emptiness


*Selling

he dives
into the sea
of money

when he finds
he can't sell himself
dry
on land

Holding its breath
a bugle stands in the shadow
of history
patiently waits
for the approach
of a pair of fiery lips

Triumphantly it will rise
to call up
the hunters and hounds
who will set out before dawn
shouting and barking
for a game
of rabbits
or
humans

Chewing the cud
can turn a long-lost spring
green

The older a cow gets
the more it foams
at its mouth

after thinking the matter over
the apple gracefully let itself
go

bang
it landed right on the head
of Mr. Newton
dozing under the tree

dusty and exhausted
the poor old road
keeps pleading for some rest

but the boys
keep laughing and shouting
and drag him down the hill

overnight
it painted the earth
whiter than the white wall

let everything start over again
let the first big-letter poster
be simple and unambiguous
each stroke exact and deliberate
a single word –
MAN

Sharing an umbrella
I suddenly realize the difference between us

Yet bending over to kiss you
gives me such joy
as you try to meet me halfway
on tiptoe

pulled yourself up by the roots

then violently shook off

the clinging dirt

you who like to travel

let yourself go wandering

and find yourself again and again

in an unaccustomed climate



grasping your hand

I can feel the roots

that crave sunlight and water

climb up my arms

and cling to my heart

******* greedily

the remnant water droplets

from our moist homeland soil

she became dizzy as her head swirled
with the yellow pills on her sweaty palm
and could not decide
whether to swallow them
or be swallowed by them

in fact she wondered if they were
the pills prescribed by her unfeeling doctor
or, in her desperation, the stars she grasped
from the sky last night

last night she kept telling her doctor
what she needed was love
not pills
but he just stood there with a cunning smile
take these, he said, you’ll feel better
in the morning

in the morning the room grew even darker
and more empty, she could hear
echoes of her own heartbeats
or, were they heartbeats of the room
banging her head with all its walls

scattering in the night sky
the yellow pills swirled
faster and faster
like shooting stars

All hell breaks loose—
on this day
children wear hideous masks
to hide
their innocent faces

All hell breaks loose—
every day
adults wear innocent masks
to hide
their hideous faces

The fish
which jumped out of the water
struggled
and returned to the water

said to

the poet
who jumped in the water
struggled
but failed to return

Your world is indeed not livable

April arrived
with a message on my desk
“Call Mr. Lyon—
Urgent !!!”

I dialed the number
“Sorry Mr. Lion can’t come to the phone right now
He is in the CAGE!”

Before I could put down my phone
her irrepressible laugh jumped out of the line
and bit off my ear, splashing blood
all over my face

It then attacked my innocent officemate
I stood by helplessly and watched him
roll about and eventually die
of laughter

after struggling with the thunderstorm all afternoon
alone
losing many leaves and suffering several broken limbs
the young tree finds itself still
standing *****

calm and serene
it declares
I am now grown up

then it melts into the woods
and becomes
part of the scenery

WHITE ORCHIDS



1

under bright sunshine

white wings

flap lightly

in the gentle wind



such a happy day

nobody is willing

to fly away



under the heavy storm

white wings

cling tightly

to mother's *****



such a dreadful day

nobody has the heart

to fly away



2

white wings

open and close

open and close



do you smell

the fragrance

of her breath

before the mirror
I gnashed my teeth and stuck out
my tongue at the shadow
the shadow gnashed its teeth
and stuck out its tongue at me

on the busy street
I glared at a passerby
who stepped on my foot
instantly he glared back

on a quiet night
I blinked at the stars
and the stars blinked at me

on the dewy field
I nodded my head slightly
at a little blue flower
the little blue flower  
nodded back

getting up early this morning
with a pleasant mood
I whistled at a little bird outside my window
the little bird happily whistled back

at this moment I am thinking
of the unknown little girl
in my sweet dream last night
I can’t seem to recall
who was the first to smile
she or I

the intense sunbeam
from your eyes
shines on my thin body
making it even thinner

that’s fine with me
I can claim I possess
the densest shadow
in the world

snow falls quietly

I don't expect
any birds
in such weather

but there's the shadow of a bird
flashing by
pulling my sight
to a familiar
yet strange field afar
where
birds are singing
and clamoring
in the celebration  
of a long-awaited
new birth

snow
falls quietly
outside my window

no sooner had the pond
become sparklingly clean
after an afternoon of sweeping  
by the bending willows

than quack quack
came a flock of swaggering ducks
on their muddy feet

After frittering away the remaining afternoon
I walk up to the window many times
to see if the sky holds any last surprise

As it hangs over my neighbor’s roof
the sun seems almost
immortal.  Picasso died this morning
I wonder what tunes the three musicians
are going to play
which way the dove
is going to fly

Having shown us the world is still
soft and kneadable
the master hands are now withdrawing
I reach out unconsciously
but realizing how childish it must be
I turn my grasping hands to clapping

tucking its tail like a dog
tucking his tail like a dog
tucking its tail like a man
tucking his tail like a man

dog
not a man
not a dog
not a dog not a man

you…

We then drove to the greenhouse
to see if the Cross was in bloom
the Cross that was planted 2000 years ago
the Cross that was once watered
with blood

When the pipe ***** became the first one
to break down crying
we all picked up our coats and headed for the door
knowing it was another hopeless year

Only the stubborn caretaker refused to give up
he kept muttering something to himself
while sprinkling the air with water

the scientists keep warning about

GLOBAL WARMING

the skeptics keep declaring

FAKE NEWS



now I understand why my body

feels warmer and warmer

while my heart

is getting colder and colder

once again

I heard bang bang

bullets shooting out of an assault rifle

rip through innocent young bodies

setting off a series of wailing cries



once again

I heard clink clank of gold coins

dropping into the golden bowls

held by weapon manufacturers, NRA,

politicians and dealers

setting off a series of hearty chuckles

A dashing horse
is always one step
ahead
of the rolling dust

In the Year of the Horse
one ought to make
365
hoofbeats

Upon opening the book
words lead the way
sentences follow
All disappear in a flash

Only the best-selling title
and the hot name
of the author
remain
What a great book

filled with hot summer air
the July afternoon
becomes a bulging transparent
balloon

in the treetop a cicada cries
let me out…
let me out…

while the bees with stingers
are too occupied with their own
business
buzzing from one flower
to another

At creation
God loves antlers so much
that all day he polishes them
smooth and shiny

Lest these horns be sullied
by clumsy hands
He lets anyone nearby
constantly feel the existence
of their pointy tips

it turns out the moon is just like us
flesh and blood
all coming from Mother's womb
full of pain
and joy

what makes her different
is that every few years
she goes back to the womb
of the Cosmic Mother
to be reborn

after the baptism of blood
billions of years later
she is as bright
as new

feverishly feeding oily coins
into the hungry mouths
of the slot machines

a cook from Chinatown
blinded by the splendor of the casino
has mistaken them
for the children he left behind
in the old country
where they refuse
to grow up

Even steel trembles
So do teeth

Red lights burn in turns
At each icy corner
The eyes don’t
warm

On two feet
with two hands
Pulling down a hat
And tightening the scalp
You greet the wind

puzzled by a falling leaf
he quietly put away
his guitar
and pictures of legs
in miniskirts

love it or leave it
what a choice

stars fly
when he hits his nose
with his own clenched fist

even the rise of such a brilliant sky
can no longer excite him

At Arlington, someone
Unknown goes down

The thousands, the thousands
Who have gone down in faraway fields
But who won’t die in the heart—
How do we bury
The thousands

open the cage
let the bird
fly

away

give
freedom back
to the
bird
cage

wind is invisible
yet one can see clearly its whereabouts
ethereal clouds
trembling flowers and grass
bouncing branches of trees
rattling windows
or signs tumbling on the streets

love too is invisible
yet one can find its existence
in a kitten's meow meow
the wagging tail of a little dog
the joyous laughs of children
a warm greeting from a neighbor
or a friendly glance of a stranger
and above all
in a lover's pounding heart

sometimes
the smart
are dumber than
dumb

dare not utter
even a simple
"I"

at an unknown tavern
the drunken hobo
claiming to be the blood relation
of the sun
murmurs
while vomiting violently

O mother this is my heart
the love I could never deliver

I  laugh a thousand laughs

in the morning wind

my whole body shakes and trembles

-- he always says

a chubby woman will bring good luck



casting my shadow to the ground

I raise my head and find your burning gaze

like all the men I have loved

looking silently into each other’s eyes
we find the entrance
to a gallery’s deep corridor

on display are portraits
of our souls
transcendent, beyond desire