The Same Old Story Poem by Chen-ou Liu

A Tanka Sequence


first sunlight
after Valentine's Day
her heart
beating against mine
in a cheap motel room

her departing words
'each star has its own journey'
linger with me...
the mouth of darkness swallows
our summer stars and her

in twilight
rustling maple leaves
have a voice
that answers the storm
I murmur, 'what am I? '

returned mail
from my ex-girlfriend
piles up...
flakes of thought drifting
in a world of one color

New Year's cleanup...
finding her wadded-up bra
under the bed
at last I breathe in
the smell of her betrayal