Best Shanghai Poems
I am
in the middle
of meditation
in lotus position
I am
the reason
for you to leave me
Solitude
the big opera of God
a poets reward
You are
the unspoken complicated words
dancing far away
only dust and smoke
(Evolution pollution)
is on the way
and remembers
Big destiny waves
no one here
to see now
what I feel
I am a
Shanghai monk
in orange pajamas
standing in the air
A Shanghai building
Reflecting on the water
Soothing strings music
©
Congealed upon the banks of this
tamed dragon sprawl stacks of crude buildings.
Concrete covers all but two glassy kings,
thick smoggy gusts give them a grimy kiss.
Insipid pillars choke sunlight, endless
roads incise the very earth, wings
of apartments cram into ev’rything,
ev’rywhere stacks upon stacks of units.
Herein lies the future, our dystopia
has arrived through the hazy looking glass.
Perhaps a reminder, utopia
is not coming, or maybe the hourglass
has but some time left. Then the route is clear.
We must turn everything around. And fast.
Upturned Chinese roofs
In a soft silhouette
Look so majestic
On top of the hill—
Encompassed in fog
In low light and shadows,
Quite simply surreal—
Boats filled with refugees
Fleeing Shanghai from
The Japanese invasion
‘Midst the chaos of war.
Gentle waves lap against
Boat hulls in dire contrast
To the noisy bomb blasts.
As shown on drawn faces
Fear and faith interlaces
With a hopeful resolve.
Comrades of all races
Are joined in this throng.
They sail away to far places
Not knowing their fate,
As in divine kinship
They now all belong.
Note* I was inspired to write this piece by a wonderful
movie I watched called The White Countess.
the old Shanghai,
that most devoted friend
doing a duty so faithfully, crowing,
rousing the farmer at break of dawn;
the proud Shanghai,
arrogantly strutting off, chest out,
white plumes advertising his place
among feathered brethrens in the farm;
the lusty Shanghai,
flirting with a harem of adoring hens
if not fighting a rooster over some slight,
imagined or otherwise, though actually
just attracting attention from other hens;
the loyal Shanghai,
keeping his farmer-friend company
through many years of rain or shine,
never demanding anything in return
just his daily feeds, a friend indeed;
late waking up one morning the farmer,
when the sun is bright high up in the sky;
damn that Shanghai not to rouse him!
rubbing his eyes, rushing to the barn
to scold the lazy fowl forgetting his job;
tears flowing down the farmer's face,
eyes on a form prone on the ground;
leaving him without saying goodbye,
the Shanghai has died in the night;
no more the old, faithful Shanghai
for him greeting a brand-new morn
when the tired world again awakens
in bold renewal, new hope bringing;
I miss that old Shanghai of mine.
I was living in shang-hai, for all you ever knew.
I stood by paper windows, for which the wind blew.
Glitter came past my ears, like a sing-song in my veins.
Tell me every secret, so I can feel the same.
There was a carpenter in Shanghai
Who hanging from a roof beam so high
When he grabbed a nail,
He let out a yell
Everyone thought he would surely die.
I had to lo-Ok,
saw, I kn-Ow her,
We're fr-Om Shanghai.
I dropped her O-ff
someplace d-Owntown
I kn-Ow about
A rare good sou-L
at Mote-L Six
who smel-Led different
IV)Next I had s-Ort
self-ctr-Olled and
my O-h fresh bills
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A rare good sou-L
at Mote-L Six
who smel-Led different.
Then she tell m-E
somebo-Dy took
her P-ink wallet.
dropped her O-ff
someplace d-Owntown
I kn-Ow about.
Next I had s-Ort
self-ctr-Olled and
my O-h fresh bills.
Gave same addres-S
like the la-St cab
ride S-aid. Same spot.
Story she h-Ad
was a b-Ag like
purse A-nd not hers.
When we avrr-Ived
I'm surpr-Ised, that's
her, sm-Iling there.
Lady beh-Ind
said out s-Ide Where'd,
you f-Ind it! Well?
I had to lo-Ok,
say, I kn-Ow her,
We're fr-Om Shanghai. (Ladies say to cabbie)
Then she tell m-E
somebo-Dy took
her P-ink wallet.
Gave same addres-S
like the la-St cab
ride S-aid. Same spot.
Story she h-Ad
was a b-Ag like
purse A-nd not hers