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Formosan Elegy
You have lived six decades and you have lived none You have loved many and you have loved no one You wedded three wives but you lie in your cold bed alone You sired four children but they cannot forgive you Knock at emptiness a house without your love Strike the pine box no answer all hollow You planted plums near the gate but they bear no fruit You raised herbs in the veranda fresh and savory I cry for you but no sound wells up in my throat I sing for you but my tears have dried in my gullet Walk the old dog give the budgies a cool bath Cut a tender melon let it bleed into memory The robe you washed hangs like a carcass flayed The mug you loved is stained with old coffee Your toothbrush is silent grease mums your comb Something's lost something's made strong Around the corner a new prince yearns to be loved A fresh turn of phrase a bad strophe erased A random image crafts itself into a poem A sleepless Taipei night a mosquito's symphony Who will cry for you me and your sister Colette Who will cry for you me and your Algerian sister You were a rich man but you held on to your poverty You were a poor man who loved gold over dignity I sit near your body bag and sing you a last song I sit near your body bag and chant your final sutra What's our place on earth? nada nada nada What's our destiny? war grief maggots nada Arms cheeks cock femur eyelids nada Cowl ox lamb vellum marrow nada Vulva nada semen nada ovum nada Eternity nada heaven nada void nada Birth and death the same blackened womb Birth and death the same white body bag Detach detach we enter the world alone Detach detach we leave the world bone lonely If we can't believe in god we must believe in love We must believe in love we must believe in love And they zip you up in your white body bag White body bag white white body bag