A Poeture Speaks a Thousand Words
Swansong
Snow gathers on gabled roofs
like down feathers on swans
insulating homes and keeping them warm
White swans swimming in spring lake
leave only their shadow in winter color white
Snow hanging from tree limbs
reflected on glassy lake surface
Mirror within mirror
World within worlds
Holographic universe
Dock pier covered with snow
recalls the swans of former seasons
beckoning their return in spring
Ugly ducklings to some
radiant white swans to others
What is one man's white trash
is another man's silver swan
Snow gathers on gabled roofs
like down feathers on swans
insulating homes and keeping them warm
White swans swimming in spring lake
leave only their shadow in winter color white
Snow hanging from tree limbs
reflected on glassy lake surface
Mirror within mirror
World within worlds
Holographic universe
Dock pier covered with snow
recalls the swans of former seasons
beckoning their return in spring
Ugly ducklings to some
radiant white swans to others
What is one man's white trash
is another man's silver swan
Lady Communes with Sea
Sea swells like chest during respiration
rise and fall amid ebbing and flowing tides
Seagulls sport and play on the waves
chasing prey without care or concern
as there are many fish in the sea
Lady sits on railing at end of pier
throwing breadcrumbs at seagulls
till bag is empty of crumbs
and birds have nothing to fill their bills
Lady on pier has her back to sea
oblivious to invading enemies
like sharks and killer whales
who might swallow her like Jonah whole
She is an innocent
born in the country, Shandong
Now a city girl in Shanghai
A fashion sophisticate
country bumpkin girl
a hybrid of city and country
Does she know the world?
Is she worldly or torn between two worlds?
What is her real home?
The city or the country?
Where does she truly belong?
On land, at sea or near the mountains?
She is a landlover, but she travels
across the sea to far different lands
She is at home on land and sea
She knows the world
And the world knows her
She has stepped out into the world
And the world has embraced her
She has met the world halfway
She is a cosmopolitan
a woman of the world
Equally at home in China
France, Britain and Canada
How did an innocent girl
become so well connected?
Because the sea is connected
to the world and she is at sea
Her back is to the sea
and her eyes search the shore
but she is a beachcomber
and will comb the beach
till she finds something
to connect her
to the other shore
seen in the background
a message in the bottle
from a native of another land
Sea swells like chest during respiration
rise and fall amid ebbing and flowing tides
Seagulls sport and play on the waves
chasing prey without care or concern
as there are many fish in the sea
Lady sits on railing at end of pier
throwing breadcrumbs at seagulls
till bag is empty of crumbs
and birds have nothing to fill their bills
Lady on pier has her back to sea
oblivious to invading enemies
like sharks and killer whales
who might swallow her like Jonah whole
She is an innocent
born in the country, Shandong
Now a city girl in Shanghai
A fashion sophisticate
country bumpkin girl
a hybrid of city and country
Does she know the world?
Is she worldly or torn between two worlds?
What is her real home?
The city or the country?
Where does she truly belong?
On land, at sea or near the mountains?
She is a landlover, but she travels
across the sea to far different lands
She is at home on land and sea
She knows the world
And the world knows her
She has stepped out into the world
And the world has embraced her
She has met the world halfway
She is a cosmopolitan
a woman of the world
Equally at home in China
France, Britain and Canada
How did an innocent girl
become so well connected?
Because the sea is connected
to the world and she is at sea
Her back is to the sea
and her eyes search the shore
but she is a beachcomber
and will comb the beach
till she finds something
to connect her
to the other shore
seen in the background
a message in the bottle
from a native of another land
This time I guess a picture is worth a pair of poems! The second in particular represents the duality of the world while also using the sea as the medium to connect the disparate parts into a continuum. The first poem also unifies opposites: Notice at the beginning how snow acts as a warmth-insulating mechanism and at the end we are admonished that "what is one man's white trash is another man's silver swan."
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