Memento Mori

Afraid we won't
notice the moment
of death and
foolishly go on

living as if nothing
has happened, we
resolve to pay
closer attention

to the sound
time makes as
it turns its
back on the

future and races
into the past.

Wrong

Beauty is never
less true than
when it thinks
truth is beauty

or when it turns
left (instead of
wrong) at
midnight.  No

one knows this
better than a
poet locked into
an earlier century

and forced to write
the wrong poetry.

Untitled

In the ongoing
struggle between
matter and energy,
light tries to

maintain a more
or less constant
speed.  A sunflower,
sipping sunlight

from the morning,
slowly turns its
head toward dusk.
A tightly wound clock

changes trains
at midnight.

At Last

I'm nothing now
but a traveler
trading places
with strangers

who hold secret
meetings inside
me.  Desperate
for good news,

I rent messages
from the stars
to reassure
myself as I

prepare for the
last roundup.

After Bei Dao

A shadow negotiating
with the light
asks for more
time.  The sun

raises a cloud's
curtain to announce
the end of winter.
An insomniac's

pillow opens its
eyes and stares
at the ceiling.
Nature renews

its contract
with the moon.

Vacancy

Eternity is a
metaphor for
the patience the
earth shows as

it spins like
a top on its
axis.  Night
circles the

globe in
search of
the horizon
on which time

unties
its knot.

A Way

A boy growing
up learns how
to control reality
in his dreams.

He takes an
elevator to the
top, then allows
his dreams to

continue skyward
until gravity
loses its grip
on them.  He

turns into starlight
at death's door.