A warm spring shower

against the museum windows

breaks the cold silence

Fog and a valley

busloads of mainland tourists

here to scratch an itch.

Palm trees softly sway
and neon lights flicker on.
Lighted windows call

Autumn is coming!
I scan the sky for mallards
and their friendly "v".

These soft Taipei nights
are quieter than goose down -
dangerous riptides.

Sitting and waiting
biding time 'till the day breaks
still can't lose myself.

Cigarettes and booze
dancing, merriment, and such -
you still are not here.

Alone in Taipei
my thoughts turn to you, sweet pea,
across the ocean.

Oh, but I am bad -
loves long dead also return,
beg for attention.

This lack of feeling,
this emptiness of being
It's just too too much.

couldn’t sleep last night
I think I woke up shouting
too upset for words.

nothing that I want
save your sweet saving embrace.
Please save it for me.

days and nights apart
of quiet desperation
please remind me why -

Why can’t I come home
to find your half-read novel
thrown across my chair?

What’s so important
that I’ve chosen to lose you
day by day, slowly,

bright memories fading
beneath a quiet murmur
of Taiwanese grey?

"Kaa Chunk!" That's the sound
of me acing my midterm.
... ... ... ... "woot!"

Classical Chinese
reminds me of pig Latin
...except it's not fun.

Mash up words you know
in an unnatural way
it's really quite strange.

Geese fly in a "vee";
a train shakes - heads bob as one;
apples on a branch.

That which can be seen
changes, fools the mind's eye, but
something else does not?

Three more hours work:
"We didn't know you had plans."
You guys really suck.

Realistically,
I would have slept until noon
and then gone to disc.

I don't like myself.
I'm too angry & lazy.
This is a problem.

I need a plumb line
to right my sad, small, skewed world.
Please come soon, sweet pea.

I bought a notebook
yesterday for my haiku.
It's a magpie's nest.

...

Leather heels, gravel,
and long shadows are enough
to remind me why.

...

"骗人！“ cried Qun Qun
and I laughed - he had a point;
there wasn't any bird!

...

Clouds roll in @ 3
my eyes follow, and find kites
above Yong river.

At 10:17
the conveyor belt shuts off,
the house is silent.

Sentimental ghosts
softly whisper of things lost.
I dream of home.

Each winter morning
hot black coffee, cold shower -
old memories fade.

Once, in Savannah,
a summer storm washed away
red dust & desire.

Here, winter showers
fog my glasses, bow my head,
coat my shoes with grime.

Temporality.
Hmmm. Is that the word I want?
My mind is a blank.

Each spring, silkworms spin
tiny cloisters for themselves
and lay down to sleep.

Wrapped in confidence,
they can reinvent themselves
alone in the dark.

Silk is beautiful
it's the stuff of tiny dreams
interrupted.

College rejection
is a dish best served with booze -
lots and lots of booze.

Here's a recipe:
Three parts bourbon, two cubes ice -
garnish with a tear.

Melodramatic?
OK, you got me. I lied.
I've been studying.

It's raining again -
"Flowers for Algernon" style.
Woke up wanting scotch.

Spent my cash instead
on calligraphy paper
and a big sun lamp.

When is the last time
YOU worked on yr. tan, at home,
copying Ni Zan?

Sweet Pea's in Burma
with our spiffy new camera -
no pictures for you.

I'm back in Taipei,
already up to my ears
in work of all sorts.

Tonight, however,
I shot a documentary
for Taipei county.

I set sky lanterns
and wrote bad calligraphy
but still no tang yuan.

Confucius once said,
"at 30, one stands upright -
finally a man."

Watching those lanterns
float bravely to the night sky,
i thought of this saying.

Each lantern's a wish -
a bright, earnest messenger
aimed to catch G-d's eye.

High over the trees,
a kiss of wind; flames sputter
and return to earth.

As the nimble lights
flickered over the tree line,
I felt somehow taller.



(I didn't take this -
I found it via Google.
It's a great shot, huh?)

Thailand's pretty cool
I guess, if you like fresh juice
and delicious food.

One day, then two flights
before we meet in Thailand.
Three weeks of fun - wow!