
Self Portrait


现在的城市镇都漂亮了
我童年的记忆也模糊了
找不到旧城的商贩店铺
也找不到祖父母的微笑
This is my happy place
watching you
go about your day
nonchalantly
My eyes are filled
with your graceful presence
My heart is full
of today’s gift
Memoirs griffitied on rocks
along the breakwall
recording life events
of locals and visitors
A celebration of a new born
Loneliness of a young man
A girl sad about unrequired love
A declaration of love
A marriage proposal
A strong bond of siblings
An unwavering friendship
Griefing parents burried a child
Loss of a best friend
A widow’s sorrow in a poem
A young man mourns his fellow soidiers
An old man laments his life
They gave these rocks flavours
Besides the salty seawater
In return
The rocks gave them blank pages
For their stories


I practice pencil drawing as a hobby with no real foundational skills. This is about friendship with fellow blogger Rob from Friends without Borders instead of showcasing my art work.
I did this sketch based on a picture Rob provided to me. It took me almost a year to complete it. It’s not because I am a slow sketcher. It’s because a life event stopped the project for over ten months. I was glad that I completed (the best I can) by the end of 2023.
Thank my friendship with Rob!

The blue and white porcelain
Reminds me of your eyes
You made evey floral print dress
Look beautiful
Remember my wardrobe was filled
With black, white, cream and grey
You gifted me
Floral print scarves
Van Gogh’s sunflowers
And almond blossoms
Now I wear floral print dresses
In memory of you
And our friendship
The blue and white porcelain
Reminds me of your eyes
Long shut into your rest
The happy sun, the story telling clouds, the birth pain pink sky were inspiring.
Landscapes pulled me over with their outstretched arms along the highway. I read my book by the cows and sheep sharing their green pasture; I drank by the brooke with rainbow lorikeets; I hid from the storm under sugarcane plantation; I yarned with the locals at the grocery store.
The smell of the artificial ocean air refresher, dark roast coffee, MacDonald’s Happy Meal in the car brought me back to reality.
A road trip made my mind escape into the world outside the car window, some real, some imaginery, the rest was just an uninspired poet trying to make the most of a recent event.

I read your application
Of a scholarship
You said
The scholarship
Would help you
Get new stationery
You said
You long to have
New pencils
I remember
In grade school
I wrapped paper
Around pencil stubs
To make them last longer
That’s four decades ago
In China
Back then
A third world country
We are in 2023
You are in Australia
Facing the same poverty
I can’t help
But cry
The space between us
Allows
Anger to be exhausted
Resentment to be overdone
Sadness to be evaporised
Memory to be filtered
And love to return