Once Was

they said
he once was a musician
he played his guitar
and wrote songs
love songs to be precise

I saw him roam around the park
smoke cigarettes
stare at the sky and hum
in faded ripped jeans
bare feet
knotted mousy hair

he was polite and kept to himself
never asked for money or food
I wondered what happened to him
one day
I finally went up to ask him

he told me
he once was a musician
played his guitar
and wrote songs
soggy love songs to be precise
nowadays
he still loved music
and creating songs
sad love songs to be precise
he just couldn’t make sounds again
with broken heart strings

Rest

house chores can wait
cooking can wait too
let’s all curl up in bed
on such a rainy day
put on jazz
or a piano concerto
let the world fade away
snooze till daybreak

Outrage

The Living Poetry prompt – Outrage

outrage are the worker bees
sweet honey they bleed to feed the upper chains
while their hives crumble

they are bees by nature
they work to the ground
they are greedy beasts by nature
they kill for food

Quicksand (流沙)

爱情就如流沙
巧匠耗尽终生
密密编织情网
网密时沙粉碎
留不住的光阴
抓不住的爱情

love is like quicksand
you spend your whole life
try to make the sieve finer
the finer it gets
still, finer is the sand
you can never salvage time
just as
you will never seize love

Sunflowers

I bought sunflowers today
on a miserable rainy day
I still hope to see your smile
piecing through the grey cloud
I don’t know if crying helps
In heaven, there is no tears
I can tell by the bright petals
freely dancing around the dark circles

– to my dearest Ash

Same But Different

There was a time
I let myself be ordinary
because
I could not endure more pain
caused by striving to be outstanding
In doing so
I saw my heart calcify as a stone wall
Then I realised
Being ordinary and being outstanding
are two evils just the same

The Bubble Wonderland

I dreamed of a gathering of Artists
I saw Keats, Monet, Lewis, Dickinson…

I heard John read poetry in a silky tone
Claude’s Clos Normand appeared before me
His obsession was a pure visual feast
I fought through the illusionary perception
to find my way to Clive’s wardrobe
I threw myself to crack open the path of truth
only to meet the coldest deceiving heart
Then, I heard Emily crying out
” Don’t shut the door…”

Sin

He wasn’t sure
why
he was hated
by his mother
Surely
she could not have loved him
by all the cursing
and beatings

She wasn’t sure
why
a boy she born
could not be a blessing
Surely
she should have felt the joy
holding him on her bosom

He wasn’t sure
why
the mother and son
could not bond
Surely
they should have been happy
that
the seed was kept
within family blood