feverishly feeding oily coins
into the hungry mouths
of the slot machines

a cook from Chinatown
blinded by the splendor of the casino
has mistaken them
for the children he left behind
in the old country
where they refuse
to grow up

Even steel trembles
So do teeth

Red lights burn in turns
At each icy corner
The eyes don’t
warm

On two feet
with two hands
Pulling down a hat
And tightening the scalp
You greet the wind

puzzled by a falling leaf
he quietly put away
his guitar
and pictures of legs
in miniskirts

love it or leave it
what a choice

stars fly
when he hits his nose
with his own clenched fist

even the rise of such a brilliant sky
can no longer excite him

At Arlington, someone
Unknown goes down

The thousands, the thousands
Who have gone down in faraway fields
But who won’t die in the heart—
How do we bury
The thousands

open the cage
let the bird
fly

away

give
freedom back
to the
bird
cage

wind is invisible
yet one can see clearly its whereabouts
ethereal clouds
trembling flowers and grass
bouncing branches of trees
rattling windows
or signs tumbling on the streets

love too is invisible
yet one can find its existence
in a kitten's meow meow
the wagging tail of a little dog
the joyous laughs of children
a warm greeting from a neighbor
or a friendly glance of a stranger
and above all
in a lover's pounding heart