Chen-ou Liu

in my mind

you shouldn't get married

loud and louder ...

we're like two vacuum cleaners

sucking at each other

—Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

frog pond

the slow drifting

of my haiku-boat

Chen-ou Liu

she's gone ...

alone, I sleep

with the dark

Chen-ou Liu

the door

of a foreclosed house

blown open

by a winter gust ...

inside and out this emptiness

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

hometown memories

I still hold on to

snowflakes in the wind

Chen-ou Liu

happy or not

just to be as I am ...

patches of fog

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

in my tank

rainbow koi swimming

in circles ...

the same question years ago,

to stay or to go

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

forest bathing

I follow the footsteps

of my inner child

Chen-ou Liu

fiftieth birthday

halfway to the summit

in silence

Chen-ou Liu

gnarled roots

the family stories

left untold

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

Facebook outage

I listen

to midnight stars

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

the door slammed shut ...

my world without her shrinks

to a tv screen

Chen-ou Liu

the door

open to blue skies

in the stillness

a caged eagle and I

become one

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

Mother once sighed,

you've spoken English for too long

you might forget me ...

exiled for years, I can't recall

which language I dream in

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

all that

remains

down

to

the dark

alone

Chen-ou Liu

where were you born?

a neighbor's knife-sharp question ...

near the fence

I see green leaves and buds

on a maple tree stump

Chen-ou Liu

my body lies

next to my wife's for years

and yet

in a corner of my mind

this woman in red

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

midnight snowfall

the nonstop blaring

of a car alarm

Chen-ou Liu

gathering shadows

ten more people ticketed

for sleeping rough

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

winter parting

I listen to the silence

she left behind

Chen-ou Liu

shower time

soap bubble after soap bubble

after my son's laughter

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

the depth

of this absence of home,

of belonging ...

my face in the rearview mirror

this eviction day

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

last shift over

my shadow walks alone

with the snow moon

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

moonlit river ...

this incessant flow

of thoughts

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

Ramadan moon

wave upon wave of prayers

in a tent city

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

first AA meeting

a whiff of whiskey

or all in my mind?

Chen-ou Liu

*

after the farewell

she doesn't wave back --

moonlight

even colder on my face

than October's snowflakes

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

CN Tower

hidden in fog and rain ...

what remains

of my immigrant past

now a blur to me

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

lovers' trail

we stroll in and out

through sunshine and shade

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

morning mist

layered on the river ...

this floating life

Chen-ou Liu

*

the departure door

closed between mother and me ...

fifteen years later

surging waves, one continent

and English separate us

Chen-ou Liu

Chen-ou Liu

waiting alone

in this cheap motel room

all night long

the vacancy sign

blinks on, blinks off ...

Chen-ou Liu