poetry

turning off hate

turning off hate

one little step toward peace:
disconnect the loudspeakers

how much violence begins
as annoyance –
the simmering ire of being woken
when you just want rest?
the Christian dawn singalong
jars as much as the
Muslim call to prayer

in America
we have our own sectarian divides:
D vs. R
blue vs. red
north vs. south
east vs. west
white collar vs. blue
agnostic vs. religious
educated vs. working class
haves vs. have nots
(note the bias –
all my own assignments
stated first)

imagine if Fox News were broadcast
over speakers in Memory Square
or if my grandparents were forced
to take in a daily podcast
questioning their faith?

even good people break

silence saves our sanity

poetry

a path through the dark

a path through the dark

trekking in the dark
with no torch
I glide along uneven ground
follow the pale ribbon of path
keep pace with my son’s
pale calves below black shorts
try not to consider
snakes
do my best to noiselessly
fade into the grey

poetry

Palu Museum megaliths

Palu Museum megaliths

the thousand-year-old figures
show the body plain
and filled with power
fierce naked stone spirits
all eyes ears nose genitalia
perceiving generating nourishing life

Alex told me about the cadaver
what they do to help the students
view it as form not being:
cover the face (obviously)
but also the hands

the hands disturb them
when they wield the knife
too personal and desperate
too likely to move

every day everywhere
we learn what makes us human
all us apes gathered in a clearing
thinking about the ones before us
who chipped stone with stone
to leave for us these silent symbols
saying who we were

poetry

off the beaten path

off the beaten path

straddling intrepid and foolhardy
being brave yet reasonable
managing risk and reward
fear and amazement
like balancing black and white checks
on the temple guardians’
chessboard sarongs

poetry

headcold fog

headcold fog

red light
dripping nose
no connections
sleep-starved
to bed

poetry

charm

charm

by the gas station
incense changes my mood
the little red shrine has been visited
and offerings made

candles flicker and a thin trail of smoke
from the glowing sticks
matches a flow of good will and energy

flames give movement, life
to the unnamed warrior guarding
this otherwise nondescript
strip mall
slaying inattentiveness

poetry

an excess of green

an excess of green

the guide apologizes
jungle is excessively green
unlike the riot of orchids
in the plot next door

the garden’s ex-director demanded
color be planted
the remnant rainforest salted
with invasive exotic hues

that’s the simple thinking
of someone who fails to notice
the bronze of a leaf’s underside
rosy blush of a baby blade
seafoam against grey of ebony bark
lemon of a leaf just littered on the floor

now the fiery red splotches
ignorantly planted in the forest
signal wounds we made
by not loving green enough

poetry

American underneath

American underneath

in Singapore I realize
the great raft of western goods
the currents shipping lanes trading routes
have pushed into this harbor
surely includes my favorite underwear

amazingly I easily secure one new
turquoise-grey-and-white striped pair
to offset the blue-and-green-polka-dot ones
that just this week succumbed to a small extra hole
victims of the rigors of handwashing and wringing

despite the changes in diet language attire greetings
for now
I’m blessed to keep
familiar underthings

poetry

manufacturing nature

manufacturing nature

it is necessary
Singaporeans feel
to move water from the sea
stack it in a column
high in the air
then let it thunder down
into a vortex
ringed by Burger Kings
and Prada shops
and to build grotesque metal trees
with flashing lights
broadcasting Disney show tunes

poetry

body language

body language

not knowing their words
I read people better
their actions and attitudes
all I can gauge
in a moment
I have taken their pulse

intelligible words
pouring out of a mouth
distract from the telling
twitch of the lips
clarity of gaze
steadiness of hand
that simmer to make
savoriness of character

in English we dismissively say
intuition
gut feeling
impression
as if it’s misleading
at best a guess
not the sum total
of generations of watching
what people do
when not telling the truth