Tuesday, September 29, 2009

September 29. 2009















red veined plant,
pirouette again for
me on clumps
of sod, while i rest
beneath this tree's shadow


bobbing wife . . .
my in-law's home filled
with water


houses waist
high in water
and your
mother's bed, dampened
with phlegm and lost dreams


winter rain . . .
she calls her lover
a typhoon


where were you
saints of the stained glass
window, when
Christ stepped down from the
cross, treading water?


everywhere
the typhoon's path . . .
flooded homes


buddha stares
past the cries of young
mothers
carrying their babies
through flooded villages


villagers
stand in line for hours . . .
waiting


how can we
sleep in a fish bowl
of water;
the whining of wind,
the laughter of trees?


typhoon,
control your temper . . .
sweep our words


you stare
through bamboo slits
at white men
floating past you
in metal dragons


the rumble
of dragons passing
through winter


robert d. wilson

©2009

Saturday, September 26, 2009

September 26, 2009





where do you
sleep when the sidewalk's
flooded
and the store eaves
have waiting lines?





what is rain
to a horny cricket ?
thick darkness


the ashes
of elders and frogs
together
in a graveyard
swapping stories


spiders, the
web they built inside
her, empty


brown out . . .
a hundred different
worlds with their
own set of wings
and nowhere to go


rain dances
on her roof without an
umbrella


typhoon!
on the telephone
talking to
a client, his puppy
takes her last breath


rambutan . . .
a sweet fruit hiding
behind thorns


brown out . . .
she burns candles
to ward off
a darkness filled
with childhood guilt


you don't scare
me typhoon, i too
blow off steam


are all the
women here takers
wanting to
be on magazine
covers in drag?


watching clouds
with his eyes closed . . .
hollow man


the frog monk
prays inside the
damp temple
asking for a
different song


calm down, dog;
form in your mind a
sutra stone


do you
dream of me at
night when
darkness walks past
you with a smile?


when the rain
stops, toads enter the
blow gun's mouth


deep sleep . . .
an urge to slip
into a
solder's armor
between dark moons


long before
dawn, comets
mimic dolphins


this morning,
rain and sun come to
the quiet . . .
nesting in a cup
of coffee


a retired man
sips morning coffee . . .
fluorescent tide


black pajama
people dodge flies
and locusts . . .
a thousand years
in deep tunnels


early morning . . . 
the stream between 
her legs



that moment
at night when the moon
stares at me
with a sheepish grin . . .
my wife steeping stars

September 26, 2009 : The Halo Halo People




the halo
halo people sleeping
on steps;
this heavy wind
the persistent rain






starless night . . .
ghosts lighting candles
for street kids



sleeping
above the water on
boards made
of bamboo and
dragonfly wings



storm warning . . .
the halo halo
dream of night


waking up
from the same dream
every night . . .
virgins dancing
in deep gorges


out of reach,
a brass ring waiting . . .
heavy rain


i bathe
in the light of a
nearby moon
crocheting hate into
neutered rhinos


dragonfly . . .
spare the rice field
that feeds us



opo will
will never strengthen
a people
used to being
another's monkey

* opo: tagalog for yes sir.


the meowing
of vendors selling
seasons



only you
can massage my feet
with tears
shed for the child you left
behind in samar


will buddha
step on the snails
eating rice?


deeper
inside i retreat
to the
wonderland i
painted as a child



tondo . . .
restless feet in
a dragon' belly



the trash
beside the river
tonight
reminds me of kids
swimming in the pasig



covered with
filth, the old beggar
greets winter


forever . . .
the toothless old
woman
posing for a photo
beyond the moon


spoiled rice . . .
a good day for our
worker's dog!


the monster
with his skin turned
inside out,
begging for money . . .
breathes the same air


like them, a
barren tree men
walk past

these people
love the company
of rats?
commune with cockroaches;
erase a child's dream?


scaling fish . . .
the pungent scent of
a buntis girl

* buntis: tagalog for pregnant


everywhere,
the naked little boy
without shoes
treating winter
like a children's toy



robert d. wilson
©2009

September 26-27th, 2009


i slept through
morning, waking
up to write
this tanka and watch
her bow to puzzles



mid winter .. .
the down syndrome boy
eats alone


the lantern
i bought for you
last night
was was sold to me
by lazy fireflies


darkness, rain . . .
a typhoon sleeping
on the couch


i bought my
friend a used cell phone
to text me
when she gets off work
. . . fencing canned sardines


i am not
a failure, dismissing
ghosts!


spoiled child!
you think the world revolves
around you . . .
there's more to rice
paddies than mirrors


centuries . . .
the evil around us
in crushed ice


waking up
from the same dream
every night . . .
virgins dancing
in deep gorges


storm warning . . .
the halo halo
dream of night


sleeping
above the water on
boards made
of bamboo and
dragonfly wings


starless night . . .
ghosts lighting candles
for street kids


robert d. wilson
© 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

September 24, 2009

she can't be
alone with herself
considers
sword play with wind mills
a waste of time


if i have
to drink with you . . .
we piss stars


do they wake
up beside cockroaches,
watched by rats,
the stench of feces
in humid heat?


your shell,
turtle, a refuge
from words


when i wake
up, has it been
a dream . . .
a scribble in
another's notebook?


is it the
puzzle that keeps us
floating?


the woman
she was when we
married
left home in a car
she couldn't fix


dragonfly . . .
spare the rice field
that feeds us


robert d. wilson
©2009

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

September 23, 2009

a slave to
the rich, arched and
flat backs
stare blankly at
themselves in mirrors


she pulled me
out of the darkness, winter
painted me into


take the gift
i bought for you . . .
burn a bridge
and watch the ashes
take my shape



before dawn . . .
look for a cloud
to water


i'm on a
toilet bowl without
a lid
watching the sun set
between a rat's legs


thick legs . . .
an ice covered
river


a cloud, she
hovers over me
breathing
the same breath
the same breath


night walk . . .
a blues harp among
gravestones


moonless night . . .
disembodied eyes stare
at the white
man walking through a
dragon's intestines


what are mirrors
to a laborer
picking rice?



she sips
brandy tonight
with the
leftover dream
she never pursued


late night . . .
hoping the moon will
lead you home


listening
to the party at
McDonalds,
calls to mind easter
sundays in a rest home


summer rain . . .
even the roosters
whisper


the light rail
carries passengers
into a
galaxy that has
no time for words


will the
song in my heart
scatter stars?


the dragon's
feces flows through
my veins
pulling me deeper
into madness



paint me
kindly, summer wind . . .
steeping tea


robert d. wilson

©2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

September 22, 2009

teach me grass
to be pliable
and listen


walk in the
rain, ignore the voice
that keeps you
tied up with ropes
in a dark closet


first rooster . . .
he cannot wait
until dawn


like echoes
the rooster's crow, victims
of a dream
between masses
and faceless nights


the distant bark
of a caged dog . . .
and day dreams


they are for
nothing, these nets . . .
placed here to
placate the ghosts
this mind has painted


will buddha
step on snails
eating rice?


where will you
run to when i'm
dead and
the grass across
the street dries up?


a wife steeps
herself in the drunken
dreams of men


the sushi
of the day was the
waitress in
a tight black skirt
i couldn't say no to



the sticky
fingers of a fly
making sushi


it was as
if she'd dressed like
that for me . . .
an okra blossom
sheltered from the rain


poor flowers!
under a highway bridge
in edsa


this void . . .
the two of us
dancing
on a rope
bridge without ends


a child's eyes
skipping stones spirits
across the pond


with little
sleep, the river near
our home, guides
me into an eddy
sculpted by stares


lamb's blood . . .
the stench of a thousand
white worms


the yellow
shirts of stylists
longing
to paint rainbows
between their legs


neon eyes
short circuited
by winter



pounding rain . . .
muffled screams under
bed sheets
stained with thoughts beyond
your wildest dreams


mid autumn . . .
white clouds flying
south


again,
voices, and not from
my mind
if i have another
cup of mirror?


channelled,
the voices of vendors
hawking goods


i bathe
in the light of a
nearby moon
crocheting hate into
neutered rhinos


i too,
carabao, plow
tomorrow


you stow
away in a cloud
at night
wondering why
the candle went out


your stillness,
monkey, without the
organ grinder