Family and friends come visit
Little teapot short and stout
Warm and fragrant pour it out
Freshly baked choc chip cookies
everybody scoffs them down
Mama wipes off sweat with hand covered in flour
Papa stands up facing Mama holding a mirror
Chuckles from her round belly rumbling loud
Our little home filled with happy smiles
I bought a Kmart t-shirt
at sales time
hung out with a friend overnight
She offered me her clothes dryer
something fancy that I don’t own
I was grateful and excited
My t-shirt came out unwearable
Shrinkage was something
I didn’t anticipate
after such a great night
That reminded me of poverty
They sat side by side
overlooking the ocean
he spoke a ‘silence’ language
she replied in a ‘listening’ language
the sound of the waves
was their witness
his pain went away
her heart rested
How come
I cannot gather the crumbs
from the floor
They were once
sweet aromatic
home baked cookies
They were once
kneaded with
loving hands
They were once grains
scattered around
waiting to be moulded
into one
She sits in silence by the sea
lets the waves orchestrate music
to make sense of her internal chaos
He stands behind her
hands in his pockets
knowing her spirit is crushed
She is trapped in her own mind
He is not allowed to rescue her
he is not allowed
Hopelessness shouts so loud
so loud
When he was a child
he mended
rain worn kites to set them fly high again
he tended
wounded animals to nurse them back to health
He comforts
friends with broken hearts
strangers with despair
She sits in stillness on the rock
lets the descending sun withhold its warmth
to sentence her to another imprisonment
He kneels on the sand behind her
fists dent deep
There is nothing
he can do
he will do
because
he loves her
This is an interpretation of Jun’s poem which was written in chinese.
雪后即天晴
冷过春会来
爱思念循环
情绵又一季
Blue sky peeps through the snow
Spring bursts forth the cold days
Love cycles amidst the lonely nights
We survive another season of separation
The household noises
in the wee hours
of the night
ignites rage
in me
I lie in bed
eyes closed
grinding my teeth
a fire ball
rises from my stomach
to my chest
melting the tight strings
sends flames to my throat
choking my screams
ascends further to my head
ants on a hot plate
burnt smoke smell
in the air
I realise
probably
I am a cave woman
Urban living
with others
will eventually execute
self-destruction
some days
the walls we built
crumble down
to burry us
in gravels
so god damn heavy
can’t escape
our lungs filled
with dust
can’t breathe
we have gone under
there is no further down
to go
the only way
is up
Despair is hidden in all walks of life
Pain does not discriminate against people
We suffer with our brothers and sisters
Not in silence
But in the open
The act of service is being there
Hand in hand
Side by side
Listening, sharing, caring
Supporting and doing life together
As one
She holds them
like crystal glasses
drinks from them
their sparks, strength
and class
They make her lips
ultra voluptuous
the way they dance
across her bottom lip
the cherry wine
stains them
into crimson velvet
She treats them
with dull conversation
and scratches them
with her sharp claws
the closer they get
the clearer her fangs
Flicker of Thoughts 