Friday, January 30, 2015

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.






Thursday, January 29, 2015

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



Monday, January 26, 2015

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

Friday, January 23, 2015

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


Monday, January 19, 2015

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......

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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

Saturday, January 10, 2015

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.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

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