Bric-a-brac (revised)

What if bric-a-brac were not benign,
But plotted plans of evil design,
Together in twos, or private pairs,
In hand-sized hide-outs and little lairs?

What if behind those smiling faces,
Of clever cuteness and cunning graces,
Lurked latent lies and tiny traces,
Till now unseen by human races?

What if they conspired, schemed, and contrived,
Busy as bees in a big bee-hive;
And one day, unveiled in declaration,
All their plans of world domination?!

Shipwrecked

like committing the horizon to paper
and fixing its intangible points to a graph,
who can map out the subtle lines of beauty
or mark down where she begins and ends?
those who have found themselves within her waters
or navigated through the paths of her sea,
are lost to the world around them
and swallowed up in a siren's dream.

and still she calls to me.

who can match her maddening gaze
or take her by the hand as one would a lover?
who would stare at the sun or extend
a hand to the waves of the sea?

and still she calls to me.

come winds! beat the hull of my heart!
come tides! throw me against her distant shores!
and i'll be the happy stranded,
and gladly join the joyfully lost!

China Revisited

Shanghai - Part 1

China's recent desire to be Di Yi Ci (number one) on the world stage in finance, military, urbanization and well, every area imaginable coupled with it's limitless labor pool and driving sense of national pride, have redefined not only its image but its reality as well.  And this truly historic revolution of Chinese industry, technology, and urbanization, though occurring all over the country, is most recognizable here in Shanghai.

This city is huge.  It's recent growth and expansion are somewhat of a microcosmic Big Bang.

Shanghai boasts of over 20 million residents.  And with its modern skyline, booming economy, well-developed public transportation system, and relatively well-developed infrastructure, it can hold its own with any other major world metropolis.

However, the greatest challenge for this city, in my opinion, is not sustainability, or maintaining free market practices in a controlling government, or even keeping up with appropriate health and safety standards.  It's compassion.

The Sibilance of Civil Sybil

Civil Sybil smelled of dribble,
Not the sort of spit that’s little
But the binding rings of boring things
Which chained her name, without acquittal—
To Civil Sybil.

She seized her days like marmalaise
And proliferated her interests, glazed
Over and over like many motors
Humming her name in puttering praise—
Civil Sybil, Civil Sybil, Civil Sybil.

Like a...

garrulous gaggle of geese. mad murder of crows. frightful flange of baboons. noisy knot of frogs. constricting cloud of gnats. savvy shiver of sharks. crazed crash of rhinos.

In other words, things that come to mind while thinking about last night. I joke, I joke. Really, it wasn't that bad. This was simply my first impression as nearly all of my grade 1 parents crowded themselves into my office last night for Back to School Night.

We talked. We ate. We sang. We danced.
They played the harp while I, entranced,
Mused upon their melodies,
And thought of a thousand....felonies.

the sauna and the unsaintly swarmers

well, it's good to be back in shanghai although it's much like walking around in your own thermal bathhouse. really, you can't get away from the sweat. and of course, along with this oppressively irriguous weather, come the millions of "mini bats" that some people kindly refer to as mosquitoes or, wenzi, in chinese.

which reminds me. the other night, we went out to eat at a new teppanyaki restaurant close to our apartment and were visited (or ambushed i should say) by more wenzi than we could want or handle. and as i was being attacked on all sides, i glanced at our chef; who looked from me to one of the diminutive predators beyond my grasp with a look that said, "if i wasn't, at this moment, making your garlic chicken i would hop over this grill and quash them all with my spatula!". and i was comforted.

home

like saturday reruns, mom's cooking, or hanging out with your brother after many years being apart...there really is no place like home.

hanging his feet over the edge of the house, they fell a bit closer to the ground. the oak didn't tower so high. the yard didn't spread out to the horizon. and the path up to the garage didn't go on for miles. but the smells, the sights, the sounds, and the old thoughts, were never sweeter. in those brief moments, his mind kept up with the sun and clung on to the good and his memories became days without nights.

it's good to be back.

they sparkle and they shine

these nights have a special glow to them for so many millions of chinese families. with each pop and rain of fiery glitter, they welcome in the new year with style, and with hope.

setting off fireworks for chun jie is more than just a release of celebratory emotion, it comes from age-old practice and tradition. farmers once believed that a great spirit called nian (year) would come each year to terrorize them. but, as legend has it, they discovered that the big, bad spirit was afraid of two things: the color red and loud noises. hence the red everything and the brilliant (and incessant) display of luminescent sky confetti.

last night, suz and i sat on our balcony and enjoyed the show. for 4 straight hours hundreds of fireworks were shot off both near and far while chinese families sat in their homes making dumplings together and handing out hongbao (red envelopes with money). what a great holiday.

these nights sparkle and they shine!

st.ol(d)en

(big)in just is
merry's ('k) not.
sound. (lessly) noosed.
in his screwtiny.
bound. yes. goosed.
in 0 sense
lost (end).

Living in the Shadows

There are many things common and uncommon in this world that confound me...taxes, people who like black licorice, women, and death would comprise parts of the common list. High-ranking on the uncommon list (besides the northern lights and male seahorses) would have to be trafficking children for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Russia

A new sun of promise is rising in Russia. With its increasing GDP (now 6th in the world), expanding markets, and lowering unemployment rate (6% in 2007), the Russian Federation has many things of which to be proud. But behind this bright sun trails a few sinister shadows. One of these shadows is human trafficking. And more specifically, child trafficking for pornography and prostitution. According to the CIA World Factbook, Russia remains a major source, transit, and destination for trafficking on all levels, especially for the sex trade. It has also remained on the tier 2 watchlist since 2003 for its inefficiency in dealing with this growing epidemic.

Below is a video illustrating the reality of this crime as well as the struggle and plight of its victims.

Street Children in China

China to Help More Street Children

China opened its first pilot protection center for street children in 1995. By 2003, the central government had spent more than 120 million yuan (US$14.5 million) to establish more than 130 special protection centers providing short-term shelter and education for urban street kids. They have helped more than 10,000 children, said Li Liguo, vice minister of the Civil Affairs. (Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2005)

Zhengzhou Centre Reaches Out with Care and Support for Street Children.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs estimates that there are about 150,000 street children in China. The real number, however, could be much higher and is on the rise.

“Based on our research, family problems such as divorce are the major cause of children leaving home,” said Deputy Director Xie Xiaowei of the Zhengzhou Street Children Protection Centre, a local governmental partner of UNICEF. “Many children from the rural areas also want to get a job in the big cities. But because they lack education and skills, when the money runs out, they often end up on the streets.”

UNICEF and the government are working to expand the programme for street children from Zhengzhou to the rest of China... (by Kun Li)

Chinese policy reaction to the problem of street children: An analysis from the perspective of street children

The effectiveness of the government-managed Protection and Education Centre for Street Children program in China was examined based on a 7-month ethnographic study of street children in public streets and at the centre in Shanghai. The program's intermediate goals are to provide education and protection for street children, and its ultimate goal is to restore them back to their own families. However, this study shows that most of the street children disliked the high security of the centre and many had rejected going home. So they tended to keep away from the centre even though it could provide them with lodging and food. (Debbie Lam and Fucai Cheng)

30 minutes to home

i'm off. i zoom. i stop. i swerve. i spot. i check. i honk. i double-check. i slow. i speed up. i signal. i slam. i honk. i breathe. i grimace. i cough. i turn. i squint. i look. i go. i accelerate. i honk. i glance. i flinch. i dodge. i brake. i sigh. i go on. i look back. i smile. i speed. i'm home.

the world is magnanimous

unbegrudgingly, i look out my window, crystal, castle: sky.
anddelightingme,
my hearty heart loudwhispering (says)
"go live!"

for the world is a rose that grows and grows magnanimously.

all-widening summer's golden bow of truth: it’s cosmic smile,
gladinfinitely...
i say: “instant yesses and unsecond-guesses make life ‘living’, jeff,
so live!”

for the world is a rose that grows and grows magnanimously!

With Hope

the previous post titled, "bi jiao" was a weak attempt at showing the contrast between the greatest gap in china...the gap between the extremely rich and the extremely poor. and in truth, the poorest of the poor in rural china would not be able to learn eng. much less anything close to resembling what is being taught their fortunate counterparts.

in an extremely interesting and insightful paper from the economics dept. of dalhousie university, three students show the alarming trends of the poor (and the poorly educated) in china:

"Between 1991 and 2000...income inequality grew rapidly in China. The disappearance in the 1990s of subsidized food coupons in China has increased the importance of money income poverty in enabling consumption of basic foods by poor families. Chinese society has experienced both rapid growth in average incomes and rising economic inequality. Greater inequality in money incomes and reduced social protection can both be expected to increase the real economic deprivation of the least well-off." (http://economics.dal.ca/RePEc/dal/wparch/WIDER_Nov_18_2007.pdf)

in other words, those with little or no means of any self-support lost the little that they had (which, at least, had been given to them by the government). for those who live in dire poverty, it truly is a vicious cycle. they have no money, so they have no means to receive education, and therefore have little hope of bettering themselves or their children.

on a more positive note, "'China is scheduled to offer nine year compulsory education free to children in rural areas starting from 2006.' Premier Wen Jiabao announced (in 2005) addressing the 'Fifth High Level Group Meeting on Education For All' sponsored by UNESCO." however, the same govt. article later states that "China plans to offer nine-year education free to children in its rural areas by 2010 and nationwide by 2015." so, as is the case with many things in china, it's unclear as to exactly when stated policy will become an observable reality. but, as they say, the great wall wasn't built in a day.

bi jiao

i open eyes. sun is where? move hands. again. again. my hungry. smell rice out burning. many class today. my clothes yi yang. i at school is home. no wash. book is know where? (big place up and down). nage, nage, nage bi? pencil. today, white man is come. white man many, many wash.

i wake up. refreshed. the sun is big and beautiful. ugh, the heater is still on. it's been going all night. i walk downstairs and eat breakfast. a few pieces of fruit and some pork dumplings. yum. and my favorite cartoon is on! the driver can wait. i jump in the shower. change clothes. where is that book? (of kingdoms conquering and being conquered)? and my new pencil case and markers? a foreign man is coming today. i heard that they bathe 3 times a day.

if i turn my head 90 degrees...

if i turn my head 90 degrees to the right i see a row of dilapidated apartment buildings: cement, multi-colored, faded. one is the yellow-green hue of a turtle's underbelly (except with pink trim, of course). another is off-white. another is red as red river dirt. below and to the front are a few shanties that would give the hoover homes a run for their lack of money. every now and then, though, a tenant comes out to water a plant or hang clothes to dry in the sun. flush against these living quarters, and spread all around, is a junk yard. a steel garden. a vehicle cemetery. and yet, just a stone's throw beyond all of this complex urban scenery are a few business sky-rises, standing tall, alone, nearly unapproachable...

miraclesandmayhem

the great Red Rooster crows and the crowds swell. a traffic patrolman stands like Moses at the edge of a sea of cars, parting the way for an enormous exodus of emigrating workers. winding in and out of preoccupied passerby. darting like harried hummingbirds with no time to rest and no tune to hum to except the incessant drone of motors--big, small, and in-between. now in between the barbarous "no-blinker" bus veering hard left and the too-much toting tuk tuk taking his "sweet sunday-strolling suprised that there could be anyone else on my road" time. :) it's monday morning and there's a miracle a minute in the mini-metropolis where i live.

10-Gallon Dreams

Last night,
I made a deal with Texas,
As bonnets blue by wind were swept,
And sanguine sagebrush laughed and leapt,
Over and across the dusty plains,
Here and there through tough terrains
And back again—and then the same—
Like shadows in my mind.

Last night,
She whispered in my dreams as
Stars like spurs shone soft and slept,
And blue-tailed comets kindly crept,
Over and across the star-dust skies,
Here and there through far and wide,
And back again, so I replied:
“Sweet shadows” in my mind.

(painting-Leese West-TX starry night)

2:28

It's amazing. how certain. uncertainty is. and. when it happens. to happen. insignificant. things. become significant. like 2:28. it was always there. once nothing. now defining. once little. and overlooked. now looming. and hard to forget. when time. like 70,000 hearts. stop.

she's the one

the one. that has a nice ring to it (yes. yes she does). as far as rings go (and i've heard they go on for eternity). i told her she was the one. not "my second" or "my better half". just and simply and only and exclusively "the one". i mean i have two favorite ice creams and two favorite colors (as far as shades go). but not her. she's the spectrum at full tilt. and the pot at the end. yeah, i've found gold even at her lowest point. she's the one when the little ones make us think that addition is not always a plus. she's the one when two comes and says she's double of what i got. she's the one when eleven tries to deceive me with her profile. besides, it wouldn't matter anyway, because she's not just "a one" or "number one". she's in a category all by herself. yep. she's the one.

"Never lose a holy curiosity" -Einstein

Surely there is a mine for silver
And a place where they refine gold.
Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the base.
He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
He dams up the streams from flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
(excerpt of a monologue from Job)

"Never lose your holy curiosity!"

See the deep, dark parts of magnum terra,
See the far-flung reaches of the spacial abyss,
See the universe charged with light and mystery!
See the wonders cloaked in the ocean depths.
Seek! and in all your searching,
Never lose a holy curiosity.

*Picture: Pre-Dawn Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-109)