BEIJING XI

on the wet road
the man in a black suit
kneels and cries
a hooded woman
tries to pick him up
the traffic
is an orchestra of horns

BEIJING X

the maidenhair,
shorn by winter
Houhai black and blue
the city reels
from the morning's cold
police guarding alleys
cough yellow air
the misty street is falling apart
the sun, silly red balloon is stuck
on the spire of drum temple

BEIJING IX

singing Tina Turner
what's love got to do with it
on stage with a small woman
who speaks no word of English
who is crying out her life

BEIJING VIII

lapping at the wooden boat
there's nightlife
at the bottom of Houhai Lake
black water ripples neon
fried meats on the wind

BEIJING VII

the museum, the masks
beautiful and terrifying
it is like being alone
on a snowy mountain
as dusk approaches

BEIJING VI

in Shanjing hutong
the meanness of police
kicking a beggar
under a hexagon blue cap
he looks up and grins

BEIJING V

in the ceremony
our host obsesses
over the small, orange
clay pee-pee boy
his smiley face happy
he shines in the stream
"good fortune,
The tea is heated correctly"

BEIJING IV

the clouds open
on the people's park

I watch the waterfall
the gush through
pocked stone.

overhead, rain passes
through smog
I am made dirty anew

BEIJING III

In the courtyard between
Gulou and Zhonglou
a young couple
play badminton
it begins gently
until they notice
their audience
then the real fun begins

BEIJING II

the Buddhists buy fish from the local fisherman
and loose them in Houhai lake
they return to the temple
the fisherman lower their rods
the circle continues

TWO HEADED GIRL

A dervish of limbs

She spins into our carriage

Suitcases and purses wheel 

Under our noses, I count leather 

From at least five hides

The ground rushes out beneath

As we unzip across London

She rummages, sits and huffs

Breathing out her activity

My a to b feels as long as infinity

I watch as the metronome slows

Her movements to atrophy

With the clickerty clack

Languor rises around her limbs

Till eventually, in the tunnel 

Lolling head hits the darkness

And her double appears, 

Bordering the carriage

A light ghost, free of luggage 

I catch a hungry eyed other

Watching her intently

Looking right through

Repulsed, I turn my head

And know the other did too

ONLY DUST

When the dust settles

Unknown birds alight

Drawn to the epicentre

The explosion in reverse

When the dust settles

A finger moves by itself

Or by design, the answer

Is hidden under rubble

When the dust settles

The doctor whips a curtain

Around the scene, 

Foolish magician

No one is watching 

MONUMENTS OF SOUND

Fat Gulou, the sun did not rise
without your drum
slender Zhonglou, the moon did not call
without your bell
tonight, I listen to these silent hours;
resurrect your vanished sound

Unmoving, stately hands
you kept the secret of steady time
and the space between, a mystery,
only telling the city when you tolled

Twin Ming Chilou, the witness
why could noone tell me
mere tourist, why you
humiliate?

BEIJING I

the mist is on fire
the mist is on fire
the fog is frozen smoke
Houhai lake built a door in the night
the churning fog paints it blue-white