How far would you go
to create a world within containment?
Shortly after we met
you showed me pictures of Saigon
the entrance to underground tunnels
like veins trying to connect with the center of the earth.
This tenebrous hole where blood flowed
in time with slumbering breath
This knee marked
fossilized, claustrophobic trench
This tourist attraction
This turned page in history
This delectable vacation feast
for your political mind
are selectively deaf to the echos of yourself.
I wrote this 1/3 of my life ago. Today, reading a friends blog had my head swirling in my feelings towards history. I remember, going to Harbin, China a few years ago and wanting to seek out a particular place where the Japanese army conducted human experiments during their occupation. At the last minute, I changed my mind. I was too afraid about what I would find out. Many other memories floated in my head and led me backwards to this poem. I wrote this about a person I ended up caring for deeply and influenced my life more than he could realize. And now that time has passed this poem could be applicable to myself.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Dismayed, I held it
to know not to release it
but a careless wind
impulsively swept through me
rustling my character.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
While colourless, still
eyes drawn grieving your absence
time wove a thin veil
cocoon around your body
incubating, transforming.
At first I thought the caterpillar in the jar was dead but was so excited to see it was actually in the process of becoming a butterfly. Themes during the day are transient but somehow connect- I didn't expect my day to end with me missing my Dad.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Why it rains- one for Tomoya
"Hey, touch the air.
it feels warmer there",
said the surface water in the river.
"Here I feel a tad of a draft" agreed his pal with a shiver.
The gentle air said "I can help, I'm actually a certified shaper"
She blew down and brought them up, turning them into light vapor.
"Oh wow, how super, mackerels!" they happily cried
as they floated up high, high, high.
"You know, we could actually touch the clouds if we really tried"!
You know what? They did! They did! The landed smack into a great big cloud,
On landing they were stunned to find that it was incredibly loud.
A festive vapour party was going on!
So what did the two good friends do? Of course, they joined along!
Floating upwards the crowd of vapours danced together
not realizing they were becoming as heavy as feathers.
The further they went up, up, up
the colder it got and the air shrinkingly gasped "puff, puff,puff".
"Yikes, I don't want to hold you revellers any longer,
you guys are getting heavier and I am not getting any stronger".
The now icy vapours looked back down at their distant river
and admitted they missed it, just a sliver.
"Indeed, my friend it is a bit freezing"
"That river of ours looks mighty pleasing"
"one more song?" "OKAY"!
"One more dance?" "Hurray"!
with one big hip bump they joined as a great big raindrop
Hollering "watch out below" The river smiled and
Plop
plop
plop.
Hey my special 5 year old. You ask the best questions that I don't know the answer to and procrastinate answering. So I actually checked and here is the answer to one that you have been asking me. I will share it with you after preschool and we can discuss in more detail this one way rain is made.
A Poem for Tae
Quietly make your way to the bathroom
glance askew into a mirror
to catch the ripened face and belly
that is you.
Each step
deepens the creaks
the weight you carry in you today
could be carried in your arms tomorrow
slow down
to let the body within your body
maneuver
turning
turning
Turning towards the dark canal
a child pauses
before leaving its cramped warm quarters
deep into this night
you too pause
a swollen hand on a matured body
This moment
so valuable
so unsharable
so irreversible
Two lives about to be changed
simultaneously
unable to connect hands
join thoughts
and push forward
together.
I wrote this poem a few years ago and had posted it on one of my other blogs. I just wanted to share/reshare it with an old friend and a new friend who are about to give birth in the next few weeks. As I near the end of my pregnancy too, I wanted to reread it.
