Long Kai Poems

Joe: "It's 9 a.m., here in Gotham and my partner, Mike and I, have been here since 7 a.m., and we also passed a cow coming over here!"
Mike: "That was no cow sir just a...

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* This poem was written for a contest originally, but was used by Professor Anne-Marie Thornton of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, to teach her WAR POETRY class in the spring semester of 2017. My...

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Her small angelic face ...

Once a place where broad smiles bloomed like butterflies on marigolds,
is streaked with the furrows that countless tears have etched into the
layers of dust and dirt and explosive residue that now...

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The mute old drunk had gotten lucky the day before - a stranger had taken pity on him at the bridge, (under which he and many other homeless people lived), and stopped to give him...

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Universal elegy grieves and yet embraces shifts of paradigm
New beginnings consciousness initiates comprehends and thus proceeds from
Illusion’s delusion collusions misconceptions in the irritating
Vortex whirlpool immanent void of false containment

Enlightenment modern postmodern retro visionary futuristic aspirations
Resound...

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I got friggin heebie jeebies

Cuz buzzards circle o'er me
eyeing these lovely bones prithee
id est Roy L. T. Canard, Si
hence impossible mission 
to be lovey dove vee.

Vague remembrances of dream  
which recurred with frequency
transfixed by...

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How interesting. A contest about Afghanistan.
Afghanistan sits landlocked between Pakistan on the East
and Iran on the West with a population of 39 million. It's enemy          ...

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Everything that’s happening this year
was all planned out.
That’s what Agenda 21 (declared as false online)
 is all about.
Documents related to the plan
are out there in the world for anyone to see.
When I first heard about...

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I don't know exactly when my search began;                           ...

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   heroes?

there are none here, now ... ever ...
      don’t feign to look, for your eyes will
         beg their smiles,...

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Us kids on the scrap heap estate, we were never going anywhere
poverty deprivation criminal activity was here to stay
Social Services, poor bastards, had no idea what to do
no, no one had a blasted clue
then, some...

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Sat in his chair, the tv still on
He’s not changed the channel for so very long
The message on screen says a shut down’s ensuing
But press any button to carry on viewing

The remote, untouched on the...

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What a game ...
he was just a jester,
and this a ghastly prospect ...

The ground lay torn open before him,
a wound in the earth that called to his dark heart,
pulled on his better judgement like lead...

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In nineteen forty four on the third of September
Is a date in my mind that I'll always remember
It was the date of the last train to Auschwitz in Poland
From Westerbork transit camp in the Nederland.

The...

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If the rubik’s cube was round
And the earth was square
We’d all be living different lives
Sharing a different time
There would be another tune in the air
And our hearts would sing a new song
Would we be aware...

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Back again ...

Her daily hour of hope ...
She came every evening to The Hem ...
Just a big hole in the earth, really, a barren canyon of dust,
Perched on the south edge of the Congo, near...

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I am here now
Presence my companion
Rising I put my two feet
On the ground
I give thanks as I open my eyes
To this new day
A divine delicious smile 
Trickles upward animating my mouth

How glorious to be here
At...

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home again, jiggety-jog
oh, how kindly my castle welcomes me!
the pungent loves of earlier meals and my dear one's perfume
Je Reviens and Acqua Di Gioia

like manna for the sensual senses
a weary man dripping from a weary...

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Dear Chicago.

Sometimes, it amazes me how a memory will flash across our minds,
and that memory will spark a prayer, a tear, or even a longing to see
someone of long ago.  Anyway, that's what happened...

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I like Muslims,
Particularly Yemenis
And Pakistanis (in Yemen)—
With whom, as a university don,
I happened to live for six years. 

Arabic vowels render 
A Yemeni voice gruff.
So even a greeting would   probably
Sound rude to you.

The...

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From every birth to every death
Underneath the sky
Every day in moments of music and tears
Every week month and year
Opaque and clear
The constant continuum
Containing millions of shades
From blades of love-grass
To mass of pain and scum
In between
The...

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Under the shade of that proliferous maple tree we'd named
  I'd given you a piece of my naive exuberant heart
   when I handed over a fragment of shimmering red ribbon
  ...

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Who’s the lady in the picture Papa Keanu?

“Her name is Pele, Mililani.  The fire goddess of Hawaii.”  

“My middle name, Aiden means (little fire).  And your name, Papa Keanu, means (cool breeze),...

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As I awaken
in the early hours
tossing and turning 
half the night long

I am feeling confused
I am zombie like 
as I slowly I arise 
and get up from my bed

Feeling just like the proverbial bear 
...

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        Black boxes atop a vintage shelf
            adorned with dust of opinions groan.
    ...

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