the orchid lamp burns low against the screen of jade
a silver hairpin pierces the frozen musk
kingfisher quilt lies undone
eaglewood breathes unrisen dusk
dripping copper drains last watch
bronze worn where our first shadows seamed
morning mirror broken bride
embroidered sash unlaces on the hearthstone
the spring silkworm spun its chamber shut
silk wound against a bridal drum untouched
red wax sealed—spent wick weeps into the stele
beside the moonlit sill the brush-knife cleaves the charred core
the seal breaks at midnight
a single scent of eaglewood rises
Kunlun incense
rain on Kunlun has fallen for thirty years
water settles Kunlun-hore
the rain not yet wet
/
/;
subdued in azure ‘ \(;;
seduced lino eloquence ~
pure Sino splendor (;;
\;
\
Inspired by
Guó Huà the flower watercolor paintings
Lino-flower prints
When the Fire Horse rises, it climbs the empty ridge;
clouds step aside, mountains dare not breathe, seasons lose their order,
shadow runs ahead of time, men dare not speak—
the omen enters the record, and Heaven sounds the bell.
The Horse walks between, yet all paths begin
where the endless river flows eastward
toward the Mountain where Heaven begins again.
(Sunrise at City of Rocks, Idaho, Spring of 2017)
As the New Year’s
Fire Horse rides on in
Blazing its karma burning trail,
Ring out the old
Ring in the new
A cosmic wind whispers
In both ears.
Time for changes
Not so much to make way
For something new
As simply to remove
What is old and stale,
And instead of that being me
I’d rather it be what I was.
I know what I have been
With a life focused on what I want,
But now what I need
Is simply something different,
And the symbol for that
Is the Fire Horse, wild and free
Burning up all that was only me.
(2/18/26)
Lawyers scratch their behinds
contemplate justice, tone-deaf, blind
Is outing a criminal despot in our hemisphere ‘constitutional’
Is the Monroe Doctrine still useful ...
While evil Maduro's already behind bars
~ Venezuelans cheering freedom’s stars
Aromatic crispy duck,
Tangy hoi sin sauce.
Stacks of Chinese pancake wraps,
Spring onions mixed,
With cucumber sticks.
Fingers licked
Quick.
10 / 11 / 2025.
i am wood dragon
ma is a water tiger
great trees need water
East world. Asia.
I met. With Chinese people
In London.
I love them
I worked with them
At their companies
Yes. Good jobs
Beautiful feelings
Chinese friendship
I never forget
The chinese
Hospitality
Amazing
East foods
The Chinese Vendor
A market in Hungary
Hatvan city
I remember an old man
Poor man. Good man
Chinese
He came every weekend
With his suitcase
Full of Chinese products
He sold those
Poor man
But great man
He was a trader
Mentally
Rich man
Business
Man
I sit on a straight back
red vinyl chair
in a Chinese Take Away
waiting for my beef
and black bean sauce,
pork chow mein and a serving
of special fried rice - hear
from behind a beaded rainbow
coloured curtain the sizzle
and spit of hot oil, the constant
sound of a ladle scraping
the sides of a wok, smell
a symphony of smells
that run a river of saliva
across my wanton tongue -
then silence, seconds
seem like minutes until,
“your order is ready sir”,
and at that moment
all the loveliness
of the world becomes
boxed and cradled
in a Lion Dance labelled
take away carry bag.
Note for American readers.
In Australia we use the term
Take Away instead of Take Out.
Same thing. Not sure of the term
used in the UK or elsewhere.
Looking through my window
Children playing around with slops
Dogs cats cows... singing in their own right
Trees mingling with the wind songs of praise
Some off to the bush for food,
Who the LION is none of their business
Africa Seems free.
On the streets shouting carrying screaming
Jesus Muhammad...
Working for heaven eden
Back home they cant spare a bean for their Neighbor!
but they speak in tongues....
Africa Seems free.
In class speaking French English Chinese....
speaking in your own right is a crime,
Poles day Pastor Sheik Bishop "vote your own"
Women in different skins long hair
Men in ear rings...
Africa Seems free.
Africa Seems free
while speaking French English Chinese...
while deep in religion of the Occidental and Oriental
while you eating screaming shouting... voting your own!
Are we free?
Are you free?
Are they free?
The dainty walk of Chinese women
beyond the Wall in olden days
was due to cruel and unusual punishment
confined and constrained by strange customary ways
victims of fashion prisoners of fad
small feet were in sadly big were bad
forced to wear a pair of lotus shoes
very small baby steps were all they took
altho' it wasn't until 1912 or so
when the girls were finally let off the hook
back then 'pon seeing his new-born daughter
especially when she cried
a Chinaman was bound to say
'Those toes are fit to be tied.'
Fingertips
fall—
not like
stones,
but like rain,
plucked silver
threading the air.
Each string
holds a hush,
a breath not yet
forgotten.
The musician builds—
not a score,
but the curve
of a heron’s wing
skimming dusk
softly vanishing
in a single glissando.
The guzheng does not speak.
It spills:
vibrato,
a tide rising
then breaking
against memory.
Sound leans back—
not toward silence
——but toward a
distant shore
we once
heard.
________________
Note: Guzheng is a traditional Chinese musical instrument.
Seal the mountains, the peaks, the city—
The little emperor rides waves like in Shanghai Bund.
In the end, the man who loved beauty became a rifle.
Where is the man-made bathing pool atop that mountain?
The princely courage, allies in accord,
Carried martial genes, shamanic rhythms,
Carried cells of herbs and discipline, anti-entropy.
Like Zhang Xianzhong sinking treasure into the Min River—his final aesthetic.
He believed only in genetic revenge,
Mocking blossoms, young girls, and green plums in May.
Some tradition loved empire but mistook beauty.
It collapsed in his beautiful feed for the kingdom.
A sliver of beauty—madness moved in,
A sprite watered by greed,
Denied by earth and the abyss’s breath.
( Poems by Shifeimi
Translated from Chinese by AI with authorial editing and final approval.)
i’ve heard of the year of the rooster but 2025—is the year of the kookoo
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