Throwback Beijing Poem by RIC BASTASA

there i learned about the yellow
emperor whose hobby was it
to kill people,
of course, the people hated him
no end.

there i walked on the the china wall
which can be seen
even when you are in the moon
i thought i made history walking
upon such a great structure and
i was told, thousands and thousands
of workers die, and buried where
they fainted.

in the forbidden city, i cannot forget
the eunuchs, and his influence to the
emperor, whose concubines take the
usual try of poisoning each other, and the
eunuchs, found the way, to make that
next boy become the next emperor.

and there i sailed in the yellow river
listening to
the boatman singing a love song to his
long lost maiden

of cedars and willow trees, of gun powders
and mirrors and feng sui and kung fu and
silkworms, and jade and gold and pearls
of teas and oranges, and shy girls too.