Taroko Gorge to Hewanshan Heights

Where the air gets thin, that's where I'll breathe

where the fog eventually lifts from the Taroko Gorge 

to speeding clouds tweaked over Hewanshan 

along one thin road hugging the twisting mountainside

to ride its chilled wind dried grass face 

linked with my companion's hand like a chain

as I climb the steep stairway to the cloud zone

pointing me upward as it quickly passes around the world

from dusk to dawn in an azure sparkle

the top down to pine trees emerald dots

even when throne in winter's cloak of snow

tropical heights still in crystal flakes

here at the heights above the tropic of Cancer

like a belt round Taiwan's midriff the Gorge loins

not quite stretching to the west's exhausted coast

but here's where I breathe thin potions of magical condition

pristine to forget what cannot be left

higher and higher I climb to heights I've never flown 

outside of silver bird alone 

with the mistress of the mountains calling me

higher and higher to the peak of imagination 

to the pinnacle of creation 

higher and higher I climb

and when I couldn't couldn't climb anymore

higher still through dashing shore of watery air 

crashing  wind on the mountainside against my heart 

bringing fragrance of muse alluring during enduring 

the highest I can climb without and within

higher I climb like a man asleep in a dream

to reach my destiny and avoid the sheep 

that clutter my view on city streets 

higher and higher to meet the God of the mountain

March 16, 2021
Hewanshan

Comment

Love on an express train with a local ticket

Love is like being on an express train With a local ticket and no reservation. One stop you sit chillin’ as soon as it starts; It takes you for a little while and a little while more. Next stop? Get up to find another seat at the door; Maybe the next stop will be the end of the line, So rock her down till the rollin’ stops, When you seem too familiar and kind. Too hungry to sit and hard-pressed to move on, It is done before you reach your destination. Perhaps you sit on the floor transfixed Or stand in the vestibule near the toilets. When you’ve opened your eyes to the world you created, It is half past late for the ride to go that way. Without faith and vision no place goes well. From car two, aisle-seat nineteen you move, To car two, seat twenty-six window move, Third stop, to car four, no seat at all; Two-thirds of your life down the line. Red signal reflection on how your trip’s been going. The train may reach your station too so...

Seeing you in my dreams

How do I restart my hand machine When pictures cannot be deleted Stuck in my mind like loves illusion Unmoving nor going away Going nowhere until I make some space Change the location for better reception No about face w ith nothing to lose All the lights lit And no silver ball to bump off of Left with a memory before farewell The feeling that will dwell Something to see when I close my eyes Something to recall from afar Something like love beyond reason The only reason to come or go Like a crescent moon over my head It is hard to see unless I am prostrate How I wish I could be with you to see The illuminated ceiling stars That I will soon be remembering imagining seeing you in my dreams May 19, 2021

Bridging Bajiang's Embankments

See live rendition here Watch a ride across the wood bridge here Two bike bridges across shallow estuary water the sea salt flows into the steppe of Alishan From Fengqihu where eight fingers stream into one To funky flatlands meandering down through Chiayi In wild weeds overgrown from the last rainy date a bird flies shyly with no more than a song from a dried tree with nothing much to fawn an egret stands in muck wondering where to look but the smell of an ah-ma's fragrant garden invites him to drink nectar from her spine and I too feel refreshed on this bike path bench on the brink of fording muddy waters thirsting for a drench of plum rain showers when the deluge swallowd all in a cinch and typhoon rains will pound it like a fist Whipping winds across the bridges' suspensions their anchorages in danger of being dislodged again or moving not an inch of span reconnected as I am starting to make ends meet till the time when it is no longer hers or mine but weighed discreetly o...

Taiwan Providence

Search This Blog