Monthly Archives: March 2012
Beggar’s Hands
This was inspired by our family trip to Vietnam. FYI, 20,000 Dong is about 1 US Dollar. Five thousand Dong. Enough for food fast, enough to end starving fast. I could hold the weight of the world in these hands, yet they are cupped only to catch only its scraps. I hold the weight of […]
Old Habits
Your blouse rests where it always has, draped on top the kitchen chair. We’ve changed homes since you’ve gone, but it still sits in the same position of the table that it always has. Sometimes, we wash it, to keep it clean. It’s silly of us – really – who washes a blouse that’s no […]
Bloodlines
This poem is based on some recent knowledge about my roots: Bloodlines My mother’s and father’s roots are like of the air and sea, so desperately disparate were their worlds. My mother’s call back to the Independent rebels who fought the French, who had almost won Vietnam’s freedom, but may have massacred Christians in the […]
When I Think of You
When I think of you, I think of the early morning market From the window, way before sunrise. The old street vendor with her big barrel Engulfing the skin-and-bone hunch back. Her soft shivering voice: “Fresh fish, fresh shrimps” Then off she phased into the foggy road. When I think of you, I think […]
For a little boy
This poem was based on some young boys I saw playing by the roads our tour bus was taking in Vietnam. My Concerns I do not know that you are watching me play, or rather, I should say, I do not care. What I care for is how the mud squishes between my toes and […]
For the Hummingbird
Here’s a newer poem of mine that I did after Snowflower encouraged me to write about Nature, since the birds and bees are always happy. While it is about Nature, it’s not exactly happy. It kind of is Mary Oliver-like, I think, but nowhere near as nice. Anyhow, here it is: For the Hummingbird You […]
Softening
Softening It was my fourth birthday, which I don’t remember much of, except for this – I had received two dinosaurs, a T-Rex, and triceratops, from whom, I can’t recall. The triceratops was my favorite, even then, I had a predilection for peaceful grazers armed with defensive shields and devices like horns and tails, in […]
The Old Warrior
This one’s an older work of mine, but one that I’m rather fond of: The Old Warrior My favorite photo of you doesn’t have you looking your best, but it’s you at your best. It’s the photo of you taken on your nephew’s wedding day. You’re sitting alone, slightly battered pink with drink and hammered […]
Settling Down
Here’s a poem I wrote this morning based on a recent discussion: Settling Down We were discussing homes, and settling down, I wanted to see the future paved down with smooth school roads, and carpools with loud kids, with afterschool soccer practices. You, were not opposed to it, but the idea of committing to just […]
How do you write poems to a poet?
For Springpoem How do you write poems to a poet? To let the words appear on paper, or the computer screen, in fact, so when your eyes absorb the lines, all the colors, the shapes and the sizes travel to your neurons, axons and dendrites, carried by all the synapses to your heart, where my love, […]