The Dragon Is Sad; the Dragon Is Ill —
The dragon is sad; the dragon is ill —
No one would need its paper making twill
...
I had no idea how I was led to
the table of this wonderful site
while hungrily ransacking the web
for some juicy morsels of free poems —
...
Another line of orange cones sharper
Than th’ sadist knives of a bloody butcher
Cutting the broad road into narrow slices
Brandishing towards all the sad drivers
...
Dressed in a sturdy-fit overall somber and dark,
Boosted with my battle-boots of the U.S. troops,
Reinforced with a buffalo hide strap hard and thick
On which clink-clank a pair of chrome cuffs,
...
A Female Minister for Social Development
She loves to arrive in perfect style on site
She'd once a year visit. Riding in Royce
...
A Working Lunch
Seated are the diners, and the party has begun
The pre-ordered dishes are being brought on
...
New Front Gates
As wild geese's honking wake broadcasts
Their flight in th' sky above,
...
I Thought I Had Come to a Wrong River
Not the one whose bank I would compete
Against other kids to arrive first at
...
Sightseeing
The sky with airplanes trembles,
And land with speed trains rumbles;
...
Driftwood (II)
Begrudge not th' soil that rotted loose your roots,
The soil that was by greedy moles burrowed,
...
My Hometown Today
The sky with airplanes trembles,
And land with speed trains rumbles;
...
She and He
Once they strolled abreast in th' garden,
Explored all its soft flowery beds,
...
It's Morning
Don't you spend, my friend, each morning
Mourning, mourning over th' morning
...
She Was Here Far and Wide for a Mission
"The dove found no place to set her foot, […] so he put out
his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him."
...
The bright and brisk voice
of a young girl of school age
ringing over the whirring fan
of the chill room
...
I joined the pomp of fisho's high-fiving
After clubbing them in the head
To welcome the salmons' homecoming
...
Slicing the drones of the scuttling travelers
Comes the macho voice "Attention, attention" —
From the well-hidden loud speakers
And nobody notices the swift silent motion
...
Let us sort it out with blood, sword and fire —
Retrieve our ancestors' lost swords we will,
Re-forge them in the furnace of roaring ire
And sharpen them till a shiny deadly chill —
...
Taught at universities both in China and New Zealand before, now a retired (because of ill health) honorary professor residing in Auckland, offering free-time tutoring of English and literature, and going fishing whenever possible. Email address: dr.ronniebai@xtra.co.nz)
The Dragon Is Sad; The Dragon Is Ill
The Dragon Is Sad; the Dragon Is Ill —
The dragon is sad; the dragon is ill —
No one would need its paper making twill
For shiny sheets in bound and covered form
To transport human knowledge and wisdom,
But in thick stacks of hell bank notes smoking
In front of its cold marble head stones burning
To bribe the underworld ferry-boat man
For having paid not enough as live man.
The dragon is sad; the dragon is ill —
No one would need its woodblock printing mill
For true history of rebellious poor peasants
Overthrowing emperors, kings, and tyrants,
But for forged records of the Overlord lying
Who was a bandit king fleeing and hiding
Whose crown bestowed by beguiled peasants
Who were to get no promised bread baskets.
The dragon is sad; the dragon is ill —
No one would need its north-south telling skill
For vaster worlds of life changing chances
To seek wonders of wonderful golden fleeces,
But for fancy fengsui of new estates
Driving peasants off their land in transits
Migrating north, south, east, west, and back
Shuddering like slaves at th' Party whip's crack.
The dragon is sad; the dragon is ill —
No one would in front of gunpowder kneel
For unmanned drones and laserguided missiles
Have it overhauled by ten thousand miles,
But at the puffed paper tiger's funfair
Where the best use it has to dazzle and scare
Boys and girls, but cats and dogs to excite
Wasteful thunderclaps to blast th' dead quiet night.
Rony bai