gan-lin shao-ruo-bi

A Moment

2011-02-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

A moment

of poetry,
freshly drawn and tempered,
with rhythms perfectly balanced.

stanzas
that linger on the tongue,
and leave trails of meaning behind.

silence
in the aftermath of tastes
as the poet walks silently off-stage

tables
where fools never dine
and angels have discourse instead

goblets
of intoxicating wines
that touch the depths of the soul

© garnet robbie

Scarecrow

2011-02-03T19:20:00.001-08:00

Birds of hunger
gliding toward me

cackle and caw
cry for carrion:

meat from the bones
of my dead poems

© garnet robbie

Visitors

2011-01-28T03:56:00.000-08:00

The door's open,

the hinge on the screen
sticks a bit,

(I'll get to it
one of these days)

just pull it shut
behind you.

Leave your shoes
in the porch

(folks do that
around here)

Pull up a stump.

Water's on.

vancouver 2011 © garnet robbie

Prairie Mandala

2011-01-21T00:34:00.000-08:00

Soft, dry, grey dust,
ankle deep,
covered my feet.

Stars,
in a thick blanket,
filled my sight.

Rainbows,
after rainfalls,
painted my imagination.

Chinook winds,
like magic,
warmed me.

The brustling
of the tall grass
swaying on the prairie;

the humming
of solar winds
lighting up the northern sky,

their whispered rush
down the heavens;

the drumming
of thunder
gathering in the foothills,

its long stampede
to a sudden
sharp and shaking crash;

the scattering of raindrops
tapping on the ground,
melting in the dust,

converging
to a torrent
slapping down;

the rustling
of wind-blown cottonwood
and poplar;

the orchestra
that revived
my soul.

xi'an 2009 © garnet robbie

Winter Silence

2011-01-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

a lighted lantern
hanging from a willow branch

bends low over the snow

snowflakes' whispers
sift through the branches

murmuring, weightless

my lone footfall
descending on the scene

drifts in a slow-mo echo

the holy breath of winter
encircling the moment

bids hush on my lips

xi'an 2010 © garnet robbie

On Being Human

2009-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

My spirit is with you.

My wings, I spread over you.

Let no harm come to you.

Let happiness surround you.

xi'an 2008 © garnet robbie

poets

2008-12-22T22:48:00.001-08:00

Poets live best

after their death,

when their words

have been freed

from personality.

xi'an 2008 © garnet robbie

poetry

2008-12-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

There are secrets
that cannot be told,

whose reason cannot
be explained,

whose signs cannot
be disclosed,

but within the lines
of poetry.

xi'an 2008 © garnet robbie

this pen

2008-12-22T22:46:00.001-08:00

This pen
has a universe
trapped within it.

There are suns and moons,
Planets filled with life,
And barren rocks
Floating in space.

It wants to write
To the music of the spheres,
But the author
Is a buffoon.

xi'an 2006 © garnet robbie

threadbare

2008-12-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

I wait for you,
along a barren road,
counting only memories,
so threadbare I've become

coloane 2008 © garnet robbie

broken hearts

2008-12-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

Lovers,
do not lay blame:

it is the pain

of your own desire
that breaks your heart

coloane 2008 © garnet robbie

secret rooms

2008-12-22T22:43:00.002-08:00

Silence breaks:

A key in a lock

A gate opens, closes

An inner door opens, closes

Hush-tongue voices

Lovers return

Silence falls

coloane 2008 © garnet robbie

light and shadow

2008-12-22T22:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday is today's shadow,
cast under tomorrow's light.

xi'an 2009 © garnet robbie

Coloane Typhoon

2008-12-22T22:42:00.001-08:00

There is no more time
Death knocks at my door
Change will come of a sudden
Like a hurricane through my window

coloane 2008 © garnet robbie

white sands

2008-12-22T22:41:00.002-08:00

On white sands
Near the shallows
By the bay
Under the evening moon
Waiting for stars to appear

coloane 2008 ©garnet robbie

gambler

2008-12-22T22:41:00.001-08:00

supreme affliction:
materialist complacency,
swarming to defeat desire,
milling about extinction.

no winner's rewards -
loss is the touchstone:
how much can be thrown,
gambled on snake eyes.

tomorrow is for losing,
deeper into the vortex,
spinning endlessly,
nothing for nothing

endless meaninglessness,
a gambler's paradise,
where nothing lives,
where everything spins.

coloane 2008 ©garnet robbie

angels

2008-12-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

When I meet angels
My heart rises
Higher than I am

Lifted, as they near,
So it seems
Like iron to lodestone

When I meet angels
I remember
What I can be

And I hold my breath
Lest my breathing
Startle them away

When I meet angels
My pulse quickens
Faster than it should

And my mind is lost
With my weeping,
And laughing, and all

macau 2005 ©garnet robbie

Reason

2008-12-22T22:39:00.000-08:00

Siddhartha, I know you,
I have known your pain,
I have heard the laughter,
Ad I have felt the rain.

The voices in your river,
The ending that ever comes,
Our symphonies go onward,
In the universal home.

The road you are descending
Is a mirror of my own,
The scars upon your temple
Not shared by you alone.

So, if you take a wrong way
And think you've lost your way,
Come warm inside my mansion:
All mine is yours - the same.

Nelson 1991 ©garnet robbie

consolation

2008-12-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

I could be consoled
with much less effort
than it takes to chase a fly from my face:
a smile, a nod of approval,
the touch of a hand.

But I prefer not,
I rather prefer
holding on to this self-criticism of mine:
useless, shameless,
a prison of guilt.

Natural
in human terms
a desire, like the gravity of the earth:
pulling, holding its own,
escape disallowed.

Supernatural
in human terms,
an ability to rend the chains and fly:
free flight, passing the clouds,
transcending the rules.

I could be inspired
with much less effort
than it takes to take one step forward:
I can, I am alive,
I will always be.

I prefer this,
prefer to conclude
escape from this habitual gravity:
look up, reflect on life,
transform into gold.

old crow 1995 © garnet robbie

Pilgrim

2008-12-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

The fragrance that surrounds you in that Spot,
Has reached me, ere your return:

A Sweetness before which the sweetest rose
Must flush and bow and ever yearn

wuhan 2005 © garnet robbie

uncivilized

2008-12-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

News of another lover
of unspecified gender
(a generational glitch
in the ecclectic dreams
of ageless cappuccino debutantes
and aromatic swashbucklers)
and barely hidden terms
of infatuous agreements,
under the guise
of open-mindedness,
are dealt out over a table
in a double-handed trist,
while nutmeg and cinnamon,
nestle together
in frothy delight,
concealing incantations
wafted into the fetid air
of diametric oppositions,
and social commentary
acquires a neon glow,
reflected in panes
of hard-boiled silicon,
marking the outer limit
against the primitive fringe:

out here,

where hands
beat drums
to frighten Pharoah;

where tongues
chant prayers
to raise the dead;

where feet
move dust
upon the earth.

cranbrook 2001 © garnet robbie