I Witness Your Keen Mind
for Linca
I met you three years ago:
you carried a cane, two kids beside you-
virtually blind but not your heart,
you said you enjoyed my poetry and workshop.
It was true, it was, it is…because soon after
I received your forwarded messages that
you sent to schools to recommend Poetry Alive.
It didn’t matter they ignored your kindness
and good wishes,
you invited me out of your own pocket instead-
A homage I must remember.
Time flies and we move on.
Last year, on WeChat I happened to find
the East West Learning club and you again,
well, a series of poetry in translation events
in no time we shaped and fashioned them.
What a success and what a joy!
But what most touched me was the stories
I found later-
how you became blind but not blind.
There were role models we have searched in our life,
but sometimes, we model ourselves.
So this poem is special for you,
for your eyes are always keen,
yet, the keenest is of heart and mind.
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River of Life For 巴山夜雨
The old memories grow in you；
you carry them day after day-
a sad long river mourning her losses.
Let me to be here to listen.
Let me walk with you along the long bank.
They say-
One cannot enter the same river twice.
I hear you weep-
They are wrong, wrong again.
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Book Lover For Frank Wang
Your love for books is the light,
sometimes comforting you,
most times consoling us.
Each day a few lines,
yet they might take us our whole life.
See the snow falls and melts-
Each moment we resolve things
in accepting then letting go.
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What Do Names Tell?
For 柯伟
You told me-
They blocked you,
now you could not see WeChat messages.
We don’t know the reason as always…
The moon’s dark side is never revealed.
The attentive watcher is alerted
by pointed names in your posts,
as if to fear the truth being shown
I once did mistake you for a male.
I too took your name for granted.
But what I made was such a tiny mistake-
So tiny, almost forgettable.
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What a beautiful life for Charles
I know you through photos, music and poems,
you have shared with me-
So kind and quiet…
you see, sometimes like snowflakes.
If I fail to notice
or say thank you.
I hope you know
that I do see
what a beautiful life
you want to bring
and share with others.
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Black and White Swan
for 七七
It is true,
you are a princess,
the one in the swan form.
What color do you choose for yourself-
white or black?
it does not matter,
they are both beautiful and elegant
with your hands.
In your poems and paintings,
I see all colors and all forms.
I envy your long legs
and curving neck.
From East to West
on the starry lake,
I fear to spin a wand and ask:
Mirror, Mirror,
Who is the fairest?