Long Windowsill Poems

Chinese Poets: English Translations II

These are modern English translations of poems by the Chinese poets Tzu Yeh, Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo and Huang E. These are poems about love, passion and beauty. 


Tzu Yeh (circa...

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I
How long have I been doing this
Throwing my time & money
Into a hole
Filling up notebooks
Mining overheard conversation
For lines
Squeezing the sponge
Of my wine soaked
Mind
Into the bucket
Of poetry
And now here we are
Gulping down the
Lead tainted water
Like Romans
Romans
Forced...

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In the May-time of my life
time bloomed each day a prickly boll –
but I, like the softest cotton within such a sharp seed  
swaddled in the purity of security 
for what seemed like eternity...

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I keep on observing couples pass me by oh so merrily,
Getting me all perked up, but at the same time, a bit of jealousy
I am deserving of no one and I know you'd disagree
Getting me...

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Vanity and insanity 
Is who I was and am - victory is contagious but has its pros and cons...its negative and positive effects in the long run - sometimes, you don't win 1st place, but...

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The Owl and the Crow


The hunter captured the owl
He brought her home to his castle
Inside a cell she was put
Away from the rain

The owl, never went hungry
The majestic avian had the greatest of comforts
Perched on...

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Be bold, I tell myself through whispers of driven reinforcement…
Reassuring myself that His might is as high as the mountains
He told me to be not deceived by the wickedness and resentment
Feel me, relief from grief…pouring...

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I balance my illicitly obtained bottle of absinthe from a man who knows a man, for an exorbitant amount of Euros, on the worn wooden windowsill of my topmost room at the rundown pension overlooking...

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To Eat A Peach

Spring is here.
The delicate tree blossoms replace
     the delicate white lights of Winter.
From the petals fruit will grow.

Pears, plums, apricots, cherries,
       nectarines...
Peaches.

I...

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Written: April 24, 2024
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tread of life
   ...

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It's raining.
Well, it was at least.
I'm just a nobody in their parents' garage witnessing the aftermath.

And it's raining.

After so long.
I love the rain.
The way it clears the air. Makes it thin. Thinner.
Easier to breathe. And...

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UPRIGHT CASCADING BEAUTY BROKEN-HEARTED
You walk on to me you pair me with your eyes startled
Dilated spectrum rationalize beautiful window your pain
Eye gate windowsill is splintered crest
 The message of the view I see everest
 And...

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There is a man in the street.  He walks his dog, unaware of the eyes observing
him.  The ladybug's short flight ends on a windowsill.  A man sits and wonders 
why life consists...

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In your restless slumbers you feel me,
I know you feel me.    
Always by your side like an iron rusted sword
Dull to the touch and stranded to the length of your back.
Your sudden...

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("Pema", 2017, original pen and ink)

The Journey of Souls

Dogs make the ultimate example
Of a conditionable being,
And my deaf-dog buddy
Old Pema the Pug is no exception.

Meanwhile Buddhists of all faiths
Believe reincarnation effects us all
And involves the...

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A Renga for Poetry Soup:


Meander

Time and the river
Endless silver morning
Autumn leaves float by

Shimmering streaming mountains
Pines swaying in constant winds

Morning mirror
Another gray hair
Ah! the wind of time

Spring's last daffodil
Plucked for a dinner paty

Diamond blue fragments
Reflecting off...

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One December Night

     Susan, Joy, Marsha, and Pam crawled out of their beds to eat bacon and ham.
Their parents were sleeping.  They snored while the slept.  The children tiptoed...

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These are the times
I sit and ponder at the beauty of it all,
amazed at the bounty of my blessings
Overburdened with foolish reminiscing
For the time has come for the present...

...life's never ending event

I admire the lovely...

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Each poem I birth
Is a child of my heart
Flesh of my flesh
Bone of my bone
Word of my soul
Conveyor of my emotions

Each one is unique
Different….
One is always happy
And sees the bright side of life
The eternal optimist
With...

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Wish I could completely forgive you...
Substantially forgive you...
Simply forget everything and start anew
Wish I had more chances to show you my worth
Give me more chances to apologize 
I want to live merrily with mirth 
With...

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1. Out my window rain starts to fall
2. I am trying to get a hold of you
3. Knowing that the break up was wrong
4. Sitting in my window I start to bawl
5. Wondering what you...

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Dream Keys
      by Odin Roark

A NY mantra
Rent the rentable
Move the movable
Key the keyable

Apartments

Four-wall-guardian of yesterday’s youth
Vacuous cellmates of old age loneliness
All part of a cyclic maze
All having a key
Urban life’s...

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birds gather at the feeder, hovering,
near the sunflower seeds,
tap, tap, tap against the windowsill,
where a feeder is attached, 
filled by hopeful hearts who linger,
at the window, 
relishing the wonder of these flying whispers,
sighing in the...

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Diwali- yes, you are right!
That is a day when both of us didn’t fight,
We went to the nearby Dabbu's store to buy sweets and lights
And decorate rangoli’s with pinks, yellows, oranges, and whites.
Today, I see...

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Broken is the mechanical clock 
Broken is the bloody heart 
Broken is the memories of youth 
Broken is the will
Broken as the world turns and spills 
Broken is the passion! 
    ...

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