Saturday 2 August 2014

[archived]: Enlightenment Poems-2 by Changming Yuan ©

Noon Jogging

already
i am tired
so terribly tired
of running
running alone
along this less traveled path
quite rugged
rough and
seeming endless
but i have to
keep moving
past heavy shades
wild flowers
and some strangers
or i would never
be able to
catch up with
my own soul
rolling echolessly



Fragments

If I lend my dull-colored mind
To the other me in the mirror
Then I would become a human
Reflection of my authentic being

Long and abstract is this process
To relocate my lukewarm soul
In a world of engulfing glass
Its cold surface is all its bold depth

Let me be as careful as I can
Not to break this magic mirror
Or I would be cut to blood
By the sharp shreds of selfhood



Temporarily Floating

I am the little creature
He put on his hook
To be kissed or swallowed
By an unknown fish

Many trout are swimming around
I have no idea which one of them
He intends to take out of the stream
The only thing I hear is His laughter
Echoing along the tightened line
Day in Day out

each time the clock agitates
there are tens of thousands
that let out loud cries
about the boiling pain of being borne
just as so many others
who cannot help cold-sweating
with the fever and fret
of a commonly unknown disease
unlike you and me

each time the sun rises
there are tens of thousands
who will never get up
to greet the morning glow
just as so many others
who can no longer go to bed
to continue their rosy dreams
under the moon-painted roof
like you and me

each time the dew drops
there are tens of thousands
whose backs bend a bit more
pushed down by an invisible hand
just as so many others
whose countless troubles and traumas
make them tremble with chagrin
yearning for a sunny spell
you and me

Lifetime

Between the spring breeze
      Brushing its green signature
On my forehead
And the winter frost
      Putting its fluffy seal
            On my naked chest
Is thus painted my whole life
      On a single rough page
            No thicker than a maple leaf




Earthly Obsession

in my forelife i was a caterpillar
moiling, toiling deep in the soil
hoping to be reincarnated someday
holding my head high above the earth

but the more i try to live like my fellow creatures
the less i can stop being a chrysalis
caged in a tiny and compact cocoon
cobwebbed with a stubborn and endless thread

i dont know if there will be an afterlife
now and here is all i am
without the sharpened knife of godly wisdom
can i hope to fly like a butterfly?



The Worn Worm

This is a transparent creature
      Gnawing at the tiny roots
Of my withering senses
Before it becomes a chrysalis
      Buried deep in my hearts soil

Then it tries to climb out
      Sucking all the fresh dews
Held long in my staring eyes
Before it begins to beat
      Its blue wings against the frog

Then it will fly away
On a cloudless day


Sitting behind a Hotel Window

With winter-washed walls
In all directions
He sits alone
Under a spectral light
The heart of the night
As the surreal interface
Between his mind and dream

Becomes immensely vague
 Yes, this is the nest for his soul
It is neither too large nor too small
The bed is also the right size
Where he can think about nothing
And look through the window
Just to see a shower passing by
All on their journey
The Fence

Like a grandpa's teeth
Cannot bite the softest days
Passing by daily

At the Lantern Festival

Before the first lantern is lit and hung up
The darkness of this world represents all the light of the day

After every lantern is lit and hung up
The light of this world stands for all the darkness of the night

It has been like this since long:
During every festival only half of the lanterns are actually lit

In the Forest of Life

like an open cage
like a free hotel
my balcony has become a home
to many wild city birds
      pigeons philosophizing in private
      seagulls stalking with arrogance
      crows beaking at unseen seeds
      sparrows quarrelling non-stop
on the branched-out railings
behind the dusk dyed wall
      sometimes all alone
      more often in company
looking out of my wingless window
i find myself to be one of them
coming to perch here by chance
      but ready to flee by need
What do YOU see then?

It is your golden-rimmed lenses
Rather than your naked eyes
Or it is your naked eyes
Rather than your virgin mind
That look at yet without seeing
            the morning glow
            The shadows of maple trees
            And the pecking crows
Outside of your rooms
                        All rented
When You Think, You Are

The red red rose is not my luv
So I first cut the rotten roots
Then the sick thorns and stems
Then the infected leaves
And then the fading petals
Until finally I can only keep your head
Deep in the pot of my soiled heart
Where you may remain eternally alive
As sheer consciousness
Growing Solitude

Up above
    on a hilltop
       stands a lonely being
Being alone

Circle within Circle

Year in, year out
He kept drawing circles
One after another
In an open circle
As if to seek the focal point
That is right there
Within his own hand
Battle of life: A Cartoon Poem

A glass bottle with a big belly but a narrow neck
Full of bow-colored and manna-like food     
A hairy scary monkey hand grasping more than it could
Tightly stuck close to the bottleneck    
Shreds of My Shadow

Soon after the summer sun
Pushed my yellow shadow
Beyond the boundary of land
And threw it onto the blue see
A wild wind blew it into shreds
Across the foamy fields

Let them swim like salmons
Or grow like seeds in spring

Bygones Is All Becoming

The scraping pain from the tenderest part of your heart bone
The prolonged echo of the nightingales calls from heaven
The morning glow between flirtatious mountain peaks
The very richest cuisine for a hungry Chinese mouth
The stifling smell of garbage during an endless strike
As well as the rapidly increasing or decreasing numbers of dollars
                        Blinking joyously on your pc screen
      The spreading of your name from tongue to tongue
                        Within the boundaries of the human world
            And of course the orgasm at the ejaculation
                        On an ecstasy bed of midsummers night

Indeed, all is becoming bygones




Uncertainty
           
Just as the shadow beyond the light
Is fictional, and fictional is
The word on the paper or screen
So is this hand also fictional
That writes from the heart of the night?

All the feelings swarmed together
What I meditated, flows
I wonder if this life of mine
Is posthumous before the birth
Of a refracted metaphor?



Light vs Shadow

Was it the shadow?
Was it the shadow beyond?
Was it the shadow beyond the shadow?
Still fell the thick night,
When the heart blocked the light.

Yes, it is light!
It is light within!
It is light within light!
Loud sweeps the morning glow,
Where the mind has no shadow.
Secret Spirit

for years I sought light in darkness
with my eyes open wide as my mouth
I called, I sang, I prayed, I pleaded
for rays that might come down from above

now I seek darkness in light instead
with my ears closed tight as my eyes
yet I cannot find a shred of my soul's
shadow, even in a midmidnight dream



To Seek Bright Light I Close My Eyes Tight
            (for Dylan Thomas)

Looking around, I only see darkness in sight
All is thick shadow beyond thick shadow
To seek bright light I close my eyes tight

In each dream I have dreamed at midnight
I follow my heart, and closely my heart I follow
The darkest nightmare contains rays of light

Striving, I strive forward with all my might
Against the high flow, the flow that I well know
Looking around, I only see darkness in sight

Right at this site where the time is right
I let go my dream drifting away like a morning glow
Looking around, I only see darkness in sight

Inside, more inside is a door shining bright
I fumble my way slow as if a rough raft to row
To seek bright light I close my eyes tight

Men and women, come down from heated height
Dont you hear the song from soul to soul echo
Looking around, I only see darkness in sight
To seek bright light I close my eyes tight             
In This Open Bottle

Every bee dies
While charging towards light

All flies survive and thrive
By fleeing into darkness

What, what if the empty bottle rotates?



Serenade

Tonight, in the heart
      Of ?________                                                                              

            A: darkness
            B: fret
            C: frenzy
D: twilight
E: …?
I move the _______
                A: lamp
    B: book
                C: picture
    D: torch
    E: …?
      from the outer world
      to my inner landscape
just like a train looming
swiftly and surely
out of a long tunnel


All in This Old Tree

Every one of us
Is a pet bird of His
Caged behind the bars
Of our own minds
Hung in this huge oak tree
Through its thick leaves
We can never clearly
See each others bills or wings
Except a few feathers of hope
Falling down reluctantly
As we try to make calls
Echoless during the storm


Dandelion

as the wind rises
again
we begin to wander
once more
with all our white
and fluffy wishes
across an unwelcoming land
with no definite direction
no hope of settling down
except the wilful wind
until we collapse
into soundless seeds
when suddenly caught
by a bone of grass


Even A Soul Has A Shadow

You can
Never
Get rid of
Your own
Shadow
Unless
You are
Part of
Light itself
Or
There is
No light
To begin with


Light vs Shadow: A Recursive Poem

  1. Do not be carried away with so much sunshine
since shadow is right behind your feet

  1. Do not be afraid of shadow in front of you
for the sun is arising just behind your back

  1. Stand still for a moment or two
and you can tell shadow from light or vice versa

  1. Keep walking in your chosen direction
and you will find your way out of the shadows



Light vs Shadow: Another Recursive Poem

if only there were still 10 suns hanging in the sky
as in the ancient chinese mythological universe

if only all stars were close, close enough to us
like millions of broken mirrors
put back together around us

if, if only every light on earth were much brighter
or, simply if our eyes were just a bit more insightful

there would be no shadows
moving before or behind us
there would be no darkness
within or without our minds 



Seeing a Shadow

In the dark
No one is moving
A figurative form
Surely an alien
Is standing still
Surely
Never will we



Astrology of Shadows

The higher the sun
The shorter the shadow

The lower the sun
The longer the shadow

The fuller the moon
The thicker the shadow

The brighter the stars
The darker the shadow



Shadowed, Shadowing

Shadows are shimmering behind the sheds
Shadows are shrinking towards the sea shore
Shadows are shuttling between the shameless and the shameful
Shadows are shifted and shattered with shades

Shadows are sharpened, shredded, shaved, shackled
Shoved, shoveled, shortened, shut, sheltered
Shrouded, shouldered, shelved, shipped

Shadows are shaped
And shaping


Sh-


Relief and Belief

When one leaf begins to tremble
The whole willow may remain still;

When one poplar tries to shake
The whole forest will stay calm;

When one forest cannot help agitating
There must be something arising, like a storm



Tall Tale Newly Told

As peach flowers fell like a brilliant snow
From the back lane to the wood did I go

Listening to the stream sing without a mouth
I forgot to return where is my monster house

The water flew from the mountain to the sea
As if it had nothing whatsoever to say to me

But its song always held my heart tight
Thus the night would give me no fright

I sang with the stream, whose song let me go
I am home again, and find every soul so low



After The Bulb Burned Out

Through the dark tunnel of the hallway
I fumbled my way humbly to the door

Back home again
I found everything
Just so much brighter
Even my old shoes
Dusted with thick shadows
At the closet of my heart


Another Dilemma
(for David Budbill)

I long for tons of
            money
so I can be a
            honey
with all this
            money

What good is my
            generosity
when I get
            bogged
in such
            poverty?


The Clothes from Heaven

Clad with the heavens brilliant cloth
Weaved with golden and silver light
The blue and the dim and the dark embroidery
Of heart and soul and the half-heart,
My dreams hang there with the morning glows
While my soul remains stark naked
In the shadow of last night here on earth:
I am standing right in front of you;
Do not stare because your eyes might hurt.


Last But Not Least

All my life is a preparation for this moment
So, please remove all these pipes and needles
      (Meant to nail and chain me in this earthy cell)
Feed me with no more food, drink or fluid
      (They are nothing less the poison to my mind)
Stop quilting me with any blankets or bed sheets
      (For my spirit is warm enough to rise like a balloon)
More important, keep talking or playing a yani to my ears
      (They are my final exit from this crowded room)

Ok, now, let it be right against light
Let me use my might to think bright
Shrinking all my shaded consciousness
Into a tiny transparent dot, and remind me
To become a god rather than a ghost


Not My Ashes

No, please do not keep my ashes in that suffocating urn
Where my spirits can neither fly nor to the ground return

But throw me high, higher against a wild west wind
Let me travel along with this seasons sigh thinned

Like the seeds from an unseen hand
Spread finely across a far virgin land
Requiem

Under a narrow and starless sky
Dig me no grave but let my fly
Loud did I sing and loudly sigh
      Please throw me against a high wind

This be the spirits you scatter around:
Here he starts from and falls on the ground
Here is the cuckoo, home from the sound
      And his ashes fall upon a wild flower


I Love You, Dear Death

ever since pangu
    separating the sky from the earth
all my poor fellow humans
            have been hating
            hiding from, or
            fighting face to face with you
                        although in vain

but i love you, dear death
    not because you are the more fair, and sincere
            than any lover willing to declare
    nor because you are the ultimate home
            to any wandering soul seeking a dome
    nor because you could even give one's name
            a guaranteed immortal fame

i do not know how to count
    the countless ways i love you
yet i have flirted with your shadow
    hundreds of times in private
            when i found it unbearable
                every cutting pain in my body
            when i was simply sick of the fact
                life is full of the foul, or
            when i lost the meaning and direction
                of my dull and humble life
i love you, dear death
    because only you can liberate my soul
            from the stuffy prisonhouse and give me
    the fresh air in the outside world
           

To My Little Allen

feel happy for me
when i die, son
i will have finally waked
from a long and heavy dream
beginning to travel
with all leisure and pleasure
in a far lighter and brighter place
like a shapeless shadow on this earth
to guide and safeguard you
my ever truer self


Bury Me Online, Allen

After I die, Son
Wrap my body with my poems
Put all my remains
In an e/cask, and send it
To a site that will
Never be on hiatus

By burying me online
You can readily
Trace my soul travelling
From one living screen
To another
As long as you have access
To the virtual space

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