BEI DAO

In Ramallah

in Ramallah

the ancients play chess in the starry sky

the endgame flickers

a bird locked in a clock

jumps out to tell the time

in Ramallah

the sun climbs over the wall like an old man

and goes through the market

throwing mirror light on

a rusted copper plate

in Ramallah

gods drink water from earthen jars

a bow asks a string for directions

a boy sets out to inherit the ocean

from the edge of the sky

in Ramallah

seeds sown along the high noon

death blossoms outside my window

resisting, the tree takes on a hurricane's

violent original shape

New Year

a child carrying flowers walks toward the new year

a conductor tattooing darkness

listens to the shortest pause

hurry a lion into the cage of music

hurry stone to masquerade as a recluse

moving in parallel nights

who's the visitor? when the days all

tip from nests and fly down roads

the book of failure grows boundless and deep

each and every moment's a shortcut

I follow it through the meaning of the East

returning home, closing death's door