The beginning of the first half of life

 

An island that periodically

       disappears off maps

sometimes there, sometimes not

            at the edge of consciousness

at the end of space

 

at the centre of an empty black playground

       dancing in a circle

       in the laughter of boys

picking sticky asphalt from oozing wounds

 

a carrot for the nose, two buttons for the eyes

       street puddles with a brittle pane of ice

running, full of fear and excitement in the damp branches

breathing in deep

       inhaling snow

 

We stood in the midst of chaos and terror

 

‘We stood in the midst of chaos and terror’

Chu Teh, North Kiangsi province

18th July, ie mid-1927

 

Having lost almost everybody

       and everything

mourners at funerals

       could themselves be killed the following day

 

       to look behind them was too much

so they picked up everything, and left

            accepted the provisional nature of things

employed harsh measures

 

our country was vast

       we could get lost

and reappear a decade later

resolute and hard

 

great slogans were echoing in our heads

as we shouldered our belongings

      

       and walked off

 

unable to forget that glimpse

of Red Guards, defiant words

    & before, China in the 30s

  (through a megaphone, a rush of words)

austere, taciturn, puritanical politics

         too hard now, and too remote

 

Slow stepping dance 1

poetry