Poems from Poet’s Jubilee Anthology, forthcoming The University of Macao, 2006.
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More poems and contributor notes in Chinese feature
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our sorry
your love
is one apology added to another, equal to
the one that I glean like a beggar
but I couldn’t bear to swallow
that apology with another
that is my love
sorry
the only footnote for our relationship
the red grapefruit
you cut open the grapefruit
cutting carefully
like tearing down my cocoon
the grapefruit is opened
into two red suns
I feel so free
flying out from the cocoon like the summer butterfly
flowers are full of my eyes
sweet as the grapefruit’s red
the two pieces of the fruit stay firm together
plentiful like the smile of first love
it’s thus I fall in love with red
you cut the grapefruit into eight pieces
red mouthful by mouthful
it’s like eating my sweetest memories
I take up the last segment
and kissing this last piece of red
my heart becomes pale
the taste of a grapefruit
like your love to me
surprisingly
sweet and plump to see
bitter to the taste
like sorrow
when there is no more flesh in the grapefruit
the inner skin of the fruit is
so pale as to make me cherish
that sugary smile of the red fruit that was
I hold the pale skins in my hand
mind and eye bringing back the original
it’s like letting the cocoon wrap my body
and now I can see
the outer skin of the grapefruit
was never red at all
