***Background: I wrote this on a lonely mountaintop in the middle of nowhere, China, after taking my first job teaching overseas... It was a tough year, but we (the Lingxi Crew) made it through, and I ended up spending six years teaching in Asia! My girlfriend, upon reading it years later, described it as "very emo."China Poem - Part 2
Eating rice and noodles a lotStreets lined with stroodles and oodles of shopsTeaching classes, reaching massesof children still in teeny basketsPeople sleeping, amputees beggingYoung girls squealing, old bags hagglingAge is keeping, time is laggingbut never runs outso we keep on draggingWhile we’re treated like celebritiesa person’s life here is never freeSidewalks, streets are used as bathroomsPollution looms, witches brooms, no vacuumsUmbrellas, umbrellas – everywhere!Shield from rain and protect from glareOn a sunless morning The Sun is scorchingTry to feel inspired but fun is boringFeel like I might evaporate, I’m exasperated!
Need a nap or break, hot like a pasta plateHot and muggy, feel sluggishDraught is coming, revealing rubbishOld folk exercise, keeping healthyMany are poor, but hide the wealthyGirls get married, still so tenderHaving babies, frill and slenderStarting families so youngWhen's the time come just to have fun?Motorbikes racing traveling fast“Out of the way!” Better make a dashHorns honking, breaks screechingSalesmen preaching, constant beseechingMy ears are bleeding!
....Gloomy day, cloudy weatherA ray of hope holding on by tetherThere's always next day to feel betterSo for today, I’ll just endeavour-Lingxi, China, 2010
***Background: I wrote this on a lonely mountaintop in the middle of nowhere, China, after taking my first job teaching overseas... It was a tough year, but we (the Lingxi Crew) made it through, and I ended up spending six years teaching in Asia! My girlfriend, upon reading it years later, described it as "very emo."China PoemEverything is old and newBut new is old, and old is newRickshaws, BMWs, Shaolin templesStrict laws, streets in rubble, flower pedalsCar horns, “corn for sale!” kids crying, birds chirpingThe sound of constructionmen constantly workingMuslim noodles served in huge bowlsRice and chopsticks, spice and hot spitsMilk tea, milk drink, egg milk, hot milkSilk scarves, silk sheets, rag silk, not silkPolluted river, chicken liverCold shiver, hot quiverRain, rain, rain, rainAgain, again, again, againSun! Humid, hot, wet, damp, dirty, sweat, AC! WC no seat; both feetGood people, look feeblePaint a portrait on wood easelFun times, vent rhymesLifetimes into bent spinesSun climbs, then shinesRays upon spent mindsChina: Sign up!One year, I’m stuckBut with my luckWon't last five months-Lingxi, China, 2010
c brtnik 