Chen-ou Liu Poems

A Haibun


A long line of Calliopes clad in lily-white, waiting in the hallway. Each is enveloped in the darkness of her own, screaming. Drops of sweat stream down my forehead, falling past my eyes onto the floor. I yell, 'Push, baby, push....' The last word holding on to the inside of my muse's womb for hours.
...

Remembrance Day speech..
young girls stretch a banner
that reads 'Peace Is the Way'
...

one by one
fireflies escape my glass jar...
starry night
...

a cockroach crawling
across 'Dirty Harry'
behind the girls...more girls
...

Kabul at twilight
Soosan Firooz's first rap song
lingers on
...

last day of school
a double rainbow arches
above our silence
...

this cold night
I face my shadow …
a raven's call
...

awake alone
with 'Good Morning, Vietnam'
echoing in my mind
the ghost I keep
...

above the attic
where the boy died
a butterfly kite
...