Dreams of The Tang Dynasty #19

#19 My hands no longer work like they used to Stiff and achy, my fingers hurt to move. I long for music, but my pipa sits unplayed. I’ve carried it with me some days, Hoping to meet someone on the road Who can play me a familiar tune, any tune. AD886 龙火花 Long HuoHua Born …

Monday Night Beneath The Towers

It's a Monday night beneath the towers, And for no particular reason, I've decided to get drunk. Maybe it's the city Maybe it's that sucking sound Coming from my innermost being. Daoist tears from a thousand years, Collected in the taste of a beer. I drink to Li Bai, I drink to lovers from another …

Burning Hearts – Waiting for Spring Poems

The burning hearts, Of these dead poet women, Make even this fastfood restaurant Seem romantic. ........ Drinking tea At my mother's place Under trees which held me, As a young boy in their branches. I hope as we've grown older together That I have also grown strong like them In a world of men Who …

December Days Under The Trees

When you get down to it, Life is two friends Sitting by a river on a cold day Reading the words of dead men And basking in the glory. ...................... There are times When your body shakes From the pulsing blood, From the conscious thought, That this is your life. There is nothing you can …

Manhood

I've heard some say, Some alive, some dead, That they wished they could be A wolf, an eagle, or a lion. But I sit here on this rock, Blood running strong in my veins, Under the end of August sun, A young man, Free and with the world at my feet, Tell me, What more …

The Night Is Full Of Storm Clouds

The night is full of storm clouds. Overhead the wild geese are frightened, And cry out with anxiety in the murky darkness. The ice hills are covered with dense fog. The only thing visible Is a beautiful shadow on a gleaming gauze window curtain. Above the clouds the white moon is cold. Under the clouds …

Sunday Waters

On a Sunday by the water Only the crickets make sound And only the dragonflies know I'm here. I go through my phone And I realize there's no one there But I have my books And I have my rock By the old rotten tree And I have a thousand songs Memorized in my head, …

Insomnia – Lu Yu

Even when I fall asleep early, My nights are long and full of bitterness. Tonight, tortured with insomnia, Memories of the past flood back Until they have exhausted me. Alone in the house beside a smokey lamp, I rub my heavy eyelids And idly turn the pages of my notebook. Again and again I scratch …

Music is Spiritual

Turn up the volume and let it move over you. Bar Scene Yumeji - In The Mood For Love Awakening Sunshine

Country House

I planted a hundred mulberry trees And thirty acres of rice. Now I have plenty of silk and grain, And can afford to entertain my friends. In the spring I plant rice. In the  Autumn I gather chrysanthemums And perfume the  wine with their petals. My wife enjoys being hospitable. My children like to serve. …

Courage in a World Full of Darkness – A Short Story

The darkness had come for her with determination, and he had destroyed it without mercy and without question. He had drenched himself in the blood of evil men, for her. ……… We could make a good life here, Hezekiah thought as he sipped his morning tea on the veranda of the old Dutch Mission. An …

The Beauty Of Existence – Thoughts from G.K. Chesterton

These are excerpts of thoughts and poems from Gilbert Keith Chesterton, an early twentieth century writer and poet, written in his early twenties while he was immersed in the dark pessimism of his time (the 1890's) in art college. He wrote these as he struggled with his own existential questions, and this is the start …

Looking Back: 12 Months of Poetry

Here are Poems that I wrote in the last 12 months or so (not as many poems as you may think) and have been in posts on this blog and on facebook. So for those of you that haven't read my poetry, here is a ton of it in one place to get a feel. …

The Everlasting Man – God and Comparitive Religion – G.K. Chesterton

Below is an entire chapter from the book The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton. It is profound and talks of the emergence of paganism in the ancient world... I know it doesn't sound riveting but it is. Read it, you will not be disappointed.  He writes so clearly, and has a very unique take on …