New York Subway

New York Subway - A Ride to Dream

Laijon Liu 20151214

Now, For 7 Line Riders
The Far West Side is
No Longer Far.           -NY MTA

Morning 5-6 o'clock

new immigrants on the train

half asleep, half conscious

some of them on their way to work

others off long hour night-shift to home

their stressed expression, wrinkled shirts

worn out working boots and uniforms...

they speak my language, mixed English and...

poor grammar short sentences in strange accents...

they never have time and energy to learn

they don't give shit, that's how they can stay and survive

7-8 o'clock

young students with backpack

immigrant and native kids with New York accent

on their way to school

to see what their nation has promised them

they ride upbeat and know their metro system

better than their textbook and changing neighborhoods

their baseball hats, football jerseys, and basketball sneakers

all that their parents paid for them

9-10 o'clock

Native residents, career successful office people

in their brand name fashionable dress and suits stand on the train

they never have to rush to punch their time cards

bury their faces in new york times and expensive glossy magazines

they seem in control of their time and work

their parents built the subway

their parents or great grandparents rode early morning train

trains rock from stop to stop

there are finance, luxury shopping, and entertainment districts

there are new immigrant concentrated and crime neighborhoods

train rock from station to station

passengers get on and get off

going somewhere
in this great multi-culture megacity

going somewhere
in their own worlds, in their own heads

going somewhere
like the NYC Metro routine, on schedule always

to that forever unreachable destination

The Golden Apple

The Golden Apple

Laijon Liu 20151103

i

Yes, my beautiful goddesses

you can make me honorable and famous

and grant me cities of gold

but I wouldn't trade my giggles and laughter

jewel crown set upon my gray hair

maidens in white satin serve me wine

their soothing voice sings me into mellow dreams

but fear and tears are more precious in life

ambrosia and nectar ease my wrinkles

but in the wash pan my Helen's face still shimmers

by the campfire, at our fleeting night

we cuddled and trembled, we were cold and hungry.

ii

the world gets mad when we fall in love

gods throw tantrum because we choose each other

behind us, chasing armies and swearing kings

their men up in arms hunting for our trail

desperate battle cries, men's solemn chants

broken spears and blood in burnt fields

fires and smokes died down in city ruins

these are wedding gifts from the blind Bard

Serve. Rally. Roar.

Serve. Rally. Roar.

On the 7 train back to Queens after my sat. soccer game, I saw a great three word poem done by US Tennis Association:

Serve.

Rally.

Roar.

the writer is sharp and poetic like Don Draper, only 3 words capture the player motion, strive, spirit and watching fans' emotion, the player and audience naturally blend into 3 words. I couldn't google the exact advertising image on the web, so I find some other tennis match photos for this cool poem.

photo source

Big House Burns

Big House Burns
Laijon Liu 2015.08.08

wall is for protection
door is to shut outsiders out
window is to peek the outside
backyard for kids to play, and friends’ beer chat

Houses are past down thru generations
they’re nation’s treasures or family’s legacy
but I’m thrilled seeing big houses burn:
Temples, Summer Palace, Plantations, Global Corps...

because when a house gets too big
the owner hires slaves to maintain it. 
My friend said: “we ought to be live in containers.”
I said: “yeah, when we are all drunk.”

Boy and His Sandcastle

Boy and His Sandcastle

Laijon Liu 20150727

a boy on the summer beach

is building his sandcastle

he's happy and singing

while the sands flow through his hands

wishes in buckets, stack up to small dunes

bridges and cathedrals gradually appear

behind him, the low tides creep

and slowly creep into my heart

Poetry

Poetry

Laijon Liu 20150606

Thunderbolts flash in the night sky

Earth revives under the rumbling clouds

Soon- comes that long-awaited rain

Soon- the sun rises in rainbow dress

Related poem

Falling Snail

Falling Snail
Laijon Liu 20150521

You let go of the tree branch, the longest distance
and the highest spot you've ever reached.
the wind streams now, and stationary world
becomes a whirling rainbow

Finally, a lifetime of forward endeavor
upward crawl, and bearing that heavy shell
is traded for one second rush

Three Very Funny Pictures

 Three Very Funny Pictures I recently screen-captured from Answer.com 

Who is your Superhero?

Who is your Superhero?
Laijon Liu 20150508

Superman? Batman? Spiderman?
Ironman? Xman? Matrix Neil? 
or the master cook Walter White?

Mine is Ordinary Men
They are so brave, they dare to walk
in this world with no superpower

All they can do is
to dog, duck, and chicken out
their appearance makes the dark part of stage

They don't have fans
their names and stories never been told
their numbers counted by millions, billions

but they pass down mankind
carry on our evolution
they born, breed, labor, and die
and be Ever Hopeful

Work ants and work bees

Work ants and work bees

Laijon Liu 20150508

Work ants and work bees

they labor from sunrise to sundown

build their hives and colonies

they're dedicated, disciplined, loyal

tech savvy and self-sacrificial

united & alone they guard their empire hierarchy

they're zombies, brain dead

like slave never lived, and never survive

never try to mate their queen or sit on the throne

Bee
Tang. Luo Yin

Everywhere from flatlands to hilltops,
a vast landscape they have occupied.
And after all flowers're gathered, honey made,
for whom they've labored and sweet they offer?

蜂
罗隐

不论平地与山尖,
无限风光尽被占.
采得百花成蜜后,
为谁辛苦为谁甜?

自憐

自憐

Laijon Liu 20150506

孤貧打自小，飄泊少年心。

父母各天涯，異國無知音。

頑志空堅持，琴書總未達。

事事不堪望，恆願落香灰。

Ming poet Chen ZiLong 陈子龙 横云山石壁铭

Ming poet Chen ZiLong 陈子龙 横云山石壁铭

ISBN#978-7-5458-0126-2 Old Shanghai Travel Book with Poems and Newspaper Drawings

An Very Cute Old Book
ISBN#978-7-5458-0126-2 Old Shanghai Travel Book with Poems and Newspaper Drawings

There's a Chinese bookstore on Elizabeth St. in Chinatown NY. I often go dig up some good books there. On Sat I discovered a book written by a Qing Dynasty author, Old Shanghai Travel Guide Booklet (1st published 1876),  contain a poem and a newspaper drawing on each page, total 356 drawings, two Chinese poems depict Qing Opium dudes truly funny, load them up here for some laugh:)

Old Age

Old Age

Laijon Liu 20150424

Mirror reflects presence and recalls our past

old age with grey hair is but a wrinkled coat

Am I this? Were I that? Our prime, a hologram

Gold satin has faded, becomes ashy bandage

Strip off the heavy shell and the dead skin

Life must embrace sunlight and Mother Earth

Nightbloom Cereus

Nightbloom Cereus

Laijon Liu 20150404

Those years of mild sun rays and lucid dews

your seasons of tranquility among the blooms

last night, under the golden moonlight

your fragrant heart suddenly bloomed-

For whom? -and quickly faded into memory.

Li Po's Great Roc Poem

Li Po's Great Roc Poem[1]

Translated by Laijon Liu 20150329

Great roc one day rises with the wind,

He twisters upward ninety thousand miles[2].

If the wind's calm and he comes down,

Still he can churn the mighty sea waves.

People see me and my oddball speech,

They see my bragging and they all sneer.

Even Confucius respected his pupils,

Gentlemen should not ignore young adults[3].

Note:
[1] Poem original title: To Li Yong, he was a Tang calligraphy artist, held a local official job, a friend of Li Po, Tu Fu and Gao Shi.
[2] miles literal translation: li, ancient measurement
[3] young adults literal translation: young of age

Chinese Original:

上 李 邕
　　李 白
　　大鵬一日同風起，
　　扶搖直上九萬裏。
　　假令風歇時下來，
　　猶能簸卻滄溟水。
　　時人見我恒殊調，
　　見余大言皆冷笑。
　　宣父猶能畏後生，
　　丈夫未可輕年少。

詠李廣

詠李廣
Laijon Liu

拔劍吟悲歌，
醉射白羽沒。
万軍奪騎飛，
千古一將雄！

Rereading Sima Qian's Historic Record reminds my old Chinese poem done years ago, about Han Dynasty's flying general Li Guang, a poetic tragic figure, his career misfortune done a better service on pages and stages than to his lifetime desire.

Dark Memories

Dark Memories

Laijon Liu 20150324

Dark memories stream out of bat caves

patch the patterns of nights

those cut and sawed fragments, countless

like crawling bangle stripes or leopard spots

quietly tailing a lost zebra

gradually, all vanish into white desert

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

Laijon Liu 20150309

gushing, roaring, and pouring

forward- is to freefall, to farewell and to self-undo

forward- is to sink the past, and face future uncertainty

forward- is also to rise, to renew, and to reborn

drawn and dive into that immense gravity

smash and splash that overpowering energy

new settlers come forth at your foot

offer up their wish, bonding, and own-selves

Rose

Rose
Laijon Liu 20150213

piercing thorns cannot shield your fragrant heart
ruby folded layers tightly clench your secret yearning
You, with Aphrodite's beauty, praised by the world

and doomed to be the crown jewel
only to be cut off from branch, and sold
as symbol of love bonding

Two Great Yuan Qu Poems

Two Great Yuan Qu Poems

Autumn Thoughts
by Ma ZhiYuan (1250-1321)
秋思
马致远 

枯藤,老树,昏鸦, 
Withered vine, Old tree, Dusky crows,
小桥,流水,人家, 
Small bridge, Flowing water, Folk's hut,
古道,西风,瘦马。 
Ancient road, West wind, Thin horse.
夕阳西下，
Evening sun declines westward,
断肠人在天涯。
Heart-broken person at far corner of the earth.

-----------------------------------------------

Autumn
by Bai Pu (1226-1306)
秋
白朴 

孤村,落日,残霞,
Solitary village, Setting sun, Sparse rosy clouds,
轻烟,老树,寒鸦,
Scarce [chimney] smoke, Old trees, Cold crows,
一点飞鸿影下。
Beneath the dot-shadow of a flying swan,
青山,绿水，
Green hills, Emerald water
白草,红叶,黄花。
Bleach grass, Red leaves, [and] Yellow blooms.

Red Pill and Blue Pill

Red Pill and Blue Pill
Laijon Liu 20150202

I swallowed the red pill, and I saw Alice
float facedown in lime spring river
her blond hair and pink polkadot skirt 
covered by rose petals and blood
slowly disperse in the tear ripples

I swallowed the blue pill, and I saw Alice
chase a black-suit rabbit, and fall down 
into a black hole, infinite gold light-rays
swirl, myriad pink distorted oval balloons
and her bell laughter forever echo 

It was a bored drowsy afternoon
on the riverbank I saw Alice and her sister
they were fishing and catching butterflies
by accident I tripped over, by accident
my shotgun discharged.

Red Crane (Flamingo) by Xin Mu, The Swan by FS Flint

Red Crane (Flamingo)

by Xin Mu (1943-)

One flamingo descends

one red bloom is planted on the lake;

A flock of flamingo descend

the whole lake is covered by red blooms.

One flamingo ascends

slits a bleeding wound in the sky;

A flock of flamingo ascend

the sky bleeds a blood river.

Original Chinese poem:

红鹤

辛牧（1943-）

一只红鹤落下

在湖里插上一朵红花

一群红鹤落下

在湖里插上整湖红花

一只红鹤飞起

在天空划开一道伤口

一群红鹤飞起

天空便血流成河

also reminds another great poem

The Swan

by Mr. FS Flint

Under the lily shadow

and the gold   

and the blue and mauve                 

that the whin and the lilac     

pour down on the water,        

the fishes quiver.        

Over the green cold leaves    

and the rippled silver         

and the tarnished copper       

of its neck and beak,  

toward the deep black water 

beneath the arches,    

the swan floats slowly.                   

Into the dark of the arch the swan floats      

and the black depth of my sorrow     

bears a white rose of flame.

The Swan more color and emotional, Flamingo is simple.

The Cracks

The Cracks

Laijon Liu 20150128

My dry lips crack, my dry fingertips split

like the retinal vessels crisscross in my eyes

it's symptom of malnutrition and dehydration

the frozen earth, city roads crack too

and they gradually grow into me, like cerebral fissures
dissecting brain functions, experience, and hope

The Rokeby Venus

The Rokeby Venus
Laijon Liu 20150126

like a pearly stream of cool bubbling spring
you amble through the sizzling summer night 
your tresses- fragrance shrouds your bedchamber

lying on your linen couch, you look into Cupid's glass 
your goddess smile ripples, outside, above your flowerbed
that low-hanging plump gold moon

Beauty of Woman

Beauty of Woman
Laijon Liu 20150123

June is your smile, July is your eyes
and August must be your song
sunshine brings blazing colors of summer's day

Beauty exists. Yes! it's also in your broken heart
like midnight violin plays melancholic tune
slowly echoes your memory of black & blue

A mother cradling her infant child, sings lullaby
her babe is her world, her child is her savior
and in her arms her baby sweetly sleeps

Those red maple leaves, frosted evergreen twigs
like your wrinkles through the passing years
permanently beautiful, permanently warm

Note:
For moms, grandmas, women raising their family.

Snowdome Dream

Snowdome Dream

Laijon Liu 20150123

Granny's music-box, plays an old fairy's song

tracing a set of wolf footprints

you'll find a gray castle in the woods

there snowflake twirl, there winter ever world

there a maiden in slumber, and she dreams

a pair of crystal shoes

Wild Horse, and Herd of Wild Horses by Poet Zhou Tao

Wild Horse

Laijon Liu 20150119

Winds are my bones, storms are my thoughts

pastures and plateaus erect my soul

life is stride and howl!

forever running, forever- non-stop

tune to the heartbeats of Earth, glide in Night's gown

Forward- my youth! Go- erase the sunset!

Painting:

Xu Beihong's Galloping Horse.

Chinese:
野马

狂风是我的骨头，风暴是我的思想
绿地和高原使我的灵魂勃起
生命是大步和长啸！

永远奔驰，永远- 不停歇
聆听大地的心跳，披著夜的晚装舞蹈
前进- 我的青春！去- 涂掉夕阳！

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the following a much better poem about Wild Horse done by a contemporary Chinese poet, environment  change horses as experience-soaked poets, my wild horse lived in a good comfortable land, his herd of wild horses truly lived, strove in battle, desert, wilderness, and storm.

野马群

Herd of Wild Horses

周涛

by Poet Zhou Tao (1946-

兀立荒原

erect standing in the wasteland

任漠风吹散长鬃

let desert wind blow their carefree manes

引颈怅望远方天地之交

stretching their necks gaze at the far joint of the Earth and sky

那永远不可企及的地平线

that forever unreachable horizon

三五成群

three [or] five gather in herd

以空旷天地间的鼎足之势

to be a tripod leg force of cauldron balancing vast land and sky

组成一幅相依为命的画面

formed a scene of dependent on each other for survival.

同是马的一族

same as a clan of horse

却与众马不同

yet different as most of them

那拖曳于灌丛之上的粗尾

their thick tail skirts dragged above the bush

披散胸颈额前的乱鬃

hanging loose manes on their breasts, necks and foreheads

未经梳理和修饰

not combed or decorated

落满尘沙的背脊

sand dust covered their back

不曾备过镶银的鞍具

that never mounted with crafted silver saddle

强健的臀部

broad rump and thighs

没有铁的烙印

not marked with branding iron

在那桀骜不驯的野性的眼睛里

in those intractable untamed eyes

很难找到一点温顺

cannot find a bit of meekness.

汗血马的后代

Breed of the Blood Sweating Horse

突厥铁骑的子孙

Descendants of Ancient Armour Cavalry Turkics

一次酷烈的战役中

once in a violent heated battle

侥幸生存下来的

by luck survived

古战场的遗民

the ancient battlefield adherents

荒凉土地的历史见证

to be the wittiness of history in this desolate land.

昔日马中的贵族

the past noble horse breed

失去了华贵的马厩

lost their royal stable

沦为荒野中的流浪者

reduced to be wanderers in wilderness

面临濒于灭绝的威胁

facing the threat of extinction

与狼群周旋

dealing with wolf packs

追逐水草于荒漠

chasing water grass in desert

躲避捕杀的枪口

dodging the kill of muzzles

但是，即使袭来旷世的风暴

and, even facing the coming of century storm

它们也是不肯跪着求生的一群

they're not a herd that willing to kneel and beg for life.

也有过

and it happened

于暮色降临之时

under the declining dusk

悄悄地

[they] quietly

接近牧人的帐篷

approached near to the herdsmen's tent

呼吸着人类温暖的气息

inhaling the warm odor of human

垂首静听那神秘的语言和笑声

lowering their heads to listen mysterious voice and laughters

潜藏于血液中的深情

[that] deep affection buried in their blood

从野性的灵魂里唤醒

awakened from their wild spirit

一种浪子对故土的怀念

a yearning like prodigal son to homeland

使它们久久地

made them [stand still] for a long while

默然凝神

with silent concentrated attention

可是只需一声犬吠

but only a sound of dog bark

又会使它们

made them

消失得无踪无影

vanish without a trace.

牧人循声而出

herdsmen out of their tent

遥望那群疾不可追的

staring at those far uncatchable accelerating

隐匿于夜色之中的黑影

dark shadows immerse into night

会轻轻地说：

and gently said:

哟嗬，野马群……

ah, [a] herd of wild horses......

Thoughts, Winter Withered Branches

Thoughts, Winter Withered Branches

Laijon Liu 20150113

My thoughts sprout out like winter withered branches

reaching their entangled arms upward at the sky 

spring breeze in dreams, warm embrace in nest

those gray elongated, meandering, suffocating trunks 

tightly wrap around a cracked eggshell

waiting for hatch, aspire to launch

The Thinker

The Thinker
Laijon Liu 20150110

the world weighs down
on his neck and shoulders

so he sits, and takes deep bow
to generate his utmost strength

his knee supports his elbow
his hand supports his chin, his frowning eyes shut

above him, the infinite cosmos vanishes,
becomes singularity, the burden of existence

his dead wife still smiles at him in his dream
or he's still searching for his long lost son?

he strips himself nude
wearing only his stony strain muscles and rough skin

let the scorching sun and the freezing rain
rub his silent stillness.

Note:
Rodin's The Thinker, Atlas and Hercules.

Heart A Spider Web

Heart, A Spider Web

Laijon Liu 20150104

My heart slowly spits out a spiral web

that symmetric framework of time and solitude

only to catch moonlight and cold dewdrops

those thin fragile tangled silky strands

tremble at birds chirp and lover's hum

suddenly smashed by a pair of flowery wings

II

threads of device, gaps to flee

on this center stage of labyrinth

fate directs tragedy and uncertainty

hearts on eight legs, climb and crawl

clinging in wind, hair-raising

torrid kisses, and night drowns in wine

III

between earth and heaven, a cast wide net

that cuts off living, and unknown universe

mind paces behind those indestructible wires

one must endure hunger, endure rains

one must endure silence and patiently wait

a predator is Nature's prey

IV

heart-shaped triangles, oval galaxies

infinite designs spin off in lotus blooms

a single crystal strand ties love and foes

backtrack traces, unfasten knots

wipe off dawn project for a sable sail

unquenchable desire, restless thoughts

V

every vibration, and slight stress on strings

connect your feeling to my senses

your perseverance, your desperation

force in distance, and Earth gravity

together construct matters of harmony

our existence is defined in relation

VI

constellations, branches and veins

through a cracked telescope lens

that worlds hold many centers, are fallen

a seraph flaps his fractured wings

a nymph tries on her red-cobra nightgown

constant outward reach, toward that inward goal

VII

everything is made broken, everything

tattered, shattered, deformed, every piece
and we try to keep them as whole

spinning kaleidoscope, rotating carousel

every fabric of mirage glistens

in a perfect geometric realm

VIII

I saw myself hanging in the void

dangling

so now I sway, and sway

I felt sea waves of stars falling on me

piling on me

I laughed, and laughed wildly