here
everything seems so natural
so straightforward
as if there were no oppression
bending or twisting
in this world

innocent hands
all joyously stretching
to reach the sky

The cloudy sky, turned away
by the sunglasses on the reviewing stand
falls heavily on our faces

The final war has ended
we now march toward the first

Holding its breath
a bugle stands in the shadow
of history
patiently waits
for the approach
of a pair of fiery lips

Triumphantly it will rise
to call up
the hunters and hounds
who will set out before dawn
shouting and barking
for a game
of rabbits
or
humans

pulled yourself up by the roots

then violently shook off

the clinging dirt

you who like to travel

let yourself go wandering

and find yourself again and again

in an unaccustomed climate



grasping your hand

I can feel the roots

that crave sunlight and water

climb up my arms

and cling to my heart

******* greedily

the remnant water droplets

from our moist homeland soil

A dashing horse
is always one step
ahead
of the rolling dust

In the Year of the Horse
one ought to make
365
hoofbeats

open the cage
let the bird
fly

away

give
freedom back
to the
bird
cage

dusty and exhausted
the poor old road
keeps pleading for some rest

but the boys
keep laughing and shouting
and drag him down the hill

Day and night
a monstrous stomach
wriggles in his bloated belly

******* up
the unblossomed laughter
******* up
the teardrops that moisten a mother’s heart
******* up
the meager flesh under his wrinkled skin
******* up
the indifference in his eyes
and eventually ******* up
from his open mouth a ghastly cry
which we take for soundless
but is in fact at a pitch
well beyond the limit
of our comprehension

drawing open the curtains
he pleasantly finds
in the bright sunshine
the maple he planted years ago
dressed in splendid green
still stands *****

the world is alive
and well

seeing the wounds and scars

humans had caused on his body

he shook uncontrollably

and finally opened his mouth

boom!

to let out his burning anger

it must be a childhood playmate
calling from outside the window
with a soft low voice
coo coo coo
waking me up early in the morning

a partridge
a dove
a lingering owl
or you
a tired wanderer on the earth
returned to play
hide-and-seek

scissors! rock! paper!

seeing his right hand
can now play games
against his own left hand
and his two eyes
without any tutoring
can wink at each other

this homebound pupil
in the depths of loneliness
ecstatically opens his mouth wide
and sings loudly
a triumphant song
to himself

the water so green
the cloud so white
the sky so blue

no rambling tour guides
no scattered ruins

here
every blade of grass
every blooming flower
every towering tree
is original
and pure

here
nothing is ugly or even unattractive
everywhere is bright and transparent
there's no place to hide

Beating gongs and drums

they celebrate light
in a world
where black
is white

Having a cold
fighting with the wife
blinded by the sun
excuses are abundant

Yet this little bird
sings the morning
into gold

The white cat
stretches
and shakes

You little devil
shedding hair
all over the carpet

the turkey stretches his n--e----c-------k
unleashing praises stuffed in his breast
like a rapid-fire machine gun

when the next Thanksgiving
is still far off

the higher the window
the smaller
and paler
the face

every time I pass underneath
I always have a funny feeling
something is going to land on my head
a spit
a cigarette ****
a flower ***
or a man
spreading his arms
trying to fly
like a bird

tucking its tail like a dog
tucking his tail like a dog
tucking its tail like a man
tucking his tail like a man

dog
not a man
not a dog
not a dog not a man

you…

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

It makes no difference
your lips kissing my lips
or my lips kissing yours

What is important
is that we still have something to say
to each other
and try to say it
well

Sharing an umbrella
I suddenly realize the difference between us

Yet bending over to kiss you
gives me such joy
as you try to meet me halfway
on tiptoe

I saw you in Roman Holiday years ago
but you are much thinner now
today is Monday
both you and your master have a day off
the sea horses make no waves
nor the Triton and the chariot

Wishing for a happy return
I stand with my back toward you
as done in the movie
and quickly toss
three five-hundred-lira coins

Hoping they won’t devalue too badly
before they hit bottom

Upon opening the book
words lead the way
sentences follow
All disappear in a flash

Only the best-selling title
and the hot name
of the author
remain
What a great book

no sooner had the pond
become sparklingly clean
after an afternoon of sweeping  
by the bending willows

than quack quack
came a flock of swaggering ducks
on their muddy feet

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

now
your mouths must stay away
from this big bowl
and go to the ocean
to assume your own responsibility

or to another shore
to make lots of money
that will stuff up your pockets
and your souls
and let your heads stay forever in the hothouse
so well-fed and well-clad
that you won't have to think of today
or tomorrow

*Before an experiment on dolphin communication with humans was terminated,  scientists had to train the two dolphins that were used in the experiment so that they could survive in the ocean.

they
put him
in the cage
to hear
his song
of freedom

LOUD
and
CLEAR

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

I  laugh a thousand laughs

in the morning wind

my whole body shakes and trembles

-- he always says

a chubby woman will bring good luck



casting my shadow to the ground

I raise my head and find your burning gaze

like all the men I have loved

The shutter flashes
your instant smile

In a mildewed evening years later
you stare at the yellowed album
and sigh

Happy days are gone

God said                                  Satan said
Let there be light                      Let there be shadows
and there was light             and there were shadows

God said                                  Satan said
Let there be mountains                      Let there be valleys
and there were mountains             and there were valleys

mountains of light                     valleys of shadows

God said                                   Satan said
Let there be humans                        Let there be beasts
and there were humans              and there were beasts

God said                                   Satan said
Let there be beasts                         Let there be humans
and there were beasts                    and there were humans

humanly beasts                             beastly humans

Hi. I am Art Buchwald
and I just died

          no sooner had he finished his last words
          than I heard a baby’s first cry

Hi. I am Art Buchwald
and I was just born

overnight
it painted the earth
whiter than the white wall

let everything start over again
let the first big-letter poster
be simple and unambiguous
each stroke exact and deliberate
a single word –
MAN

In order to shoot
an invading bird
they define an air space
with searchlights

In order to shoot
a fleeing compatriot
they ***** a paradise on earth
with tall walls

before the mirror
I gnashed my teeth and stuck out
my tongue at the shadow
the shadow gnashed its teeth
and stuck out its tongue at me

on the busy street
I glared at a passerby
who stepped on my foot
instantly he glared back

on a quiet night
I blinked at the stars
and the stars blinked at me

on the dewy field
I nodded my head slightly
at a little blue flower
the little blue flower  
nodded back

getting up early this morning
with a pleasant mood
I whistled at a little bird outside my window
the little bird happily whistled back

at this moment I am thinking
of the unknown little girl
in my sweet dream last night
I can’t seem to recall
who was the first to smile
she or I

she became dizzy as her head swirled
with the yellow pills on her sweaty palm
and could not decide
whether to swallow them
or be swallowed by them

in fact she wondered if they were
the pills prescribed by her unfeeling doctor
or, in her desperation, the stars she grasped
from the sky last night

last night she kept telling her doctor
what she needed was love
not pills
but he just stood there with a cunning smile
take these, he said, you’ll feel better
in the morning

in the morning the room grew even darker
and more empty, she could hear
echoes of her own heartbeats
or, were they heartbeats of the room
banging her head with all its walls

scattering in the night sky
the yellow pills swirled
faster and faster
like shooting stars

filled with hot summer air
the July afternoon
becomes a bulging transparent
balloon

in the treetop a cicada cries
let me out…
let me out…

while the bees with stingers
are too occupied with their own
business
buzzing from one flower
to another

Maybe it’s the only way
to pop the dud days of the gone year
like popcorn

yet in lighting a string of firecrackers
hands that survived bullets and shells
still tremble uncontrollably
as if facing a fierce enemy

a heart as cold and hard

as an iceberg


our warning hot air

is nothing to him

but a passing breeze

with mouth wide open
it’s now ready
to spew in your face
the trash of life
it has long
swallowed

All hell breaks loose—
on this day
children wear hideous masks
to hide
their innocent faces

All hell breaks loose—
every day
adults wear innocent masks
to hide
their hideous faces

standing by the window
an emaciated vase
is singing a sentimental ballad
while tearing down
from its heart
petal by petal
the withered
love

At creation
God loves antlers so much
that all day he polishes them
smooth and shiny

Lest these horns be sullied
by clumsy hands
He lets anyone nearby
constantly feel the existence
of their pointy tips

twisting & turning
the dwarf
limps away her life
on wire-bound feet

standing like this
(they call it immortality)
with a frozen smile and ponderous medals
is more barbaric
than lying in state
with a red rose on my chest

at dawn, two lovers awakened at my feet
and began reciting the beautiful engraved lies
between kisses and laughs
there was a sharp pain in my chest
at the very spot where the first ray of light hit
at the very spot where they pinned the red rose

is this me?
i asked

this is me
you answered

nowadays
even lie detectors
lie

if you ladies don’t believe me
just try and ask the following question
Does this dress make me look fat?

a pair of birds making love on the branch
shake down an innocent leaf

smack! with the slap of a huge palm
a newborn utters its first cry
while the exhausted moon shuts her eyes
to the sun’s ever reddening face

I don’t care what the weatherman says
this is a promising morning

here and there
I see piercing birdcalls
making slits
long and short, wide and narrow
on the black sky
to let light in