HIDING MY TAIL

I hide my tail, hang out with others hiding theirs.

I bend over, thinking I’d approach my shadow, but my shadow bends too, hoping to flee.

To drown all innermost thought, drink a bellyful of cold water.

Walking, I open my hands, praying for nothing in this world. But what might fall into my palms?

Fingers cut by broken glass, no mosquitoes in sight.

I train my gaze to be hawk sharp. At last I see everything clear, unable to escape my helpless heart.

If you come too close, no need for binoculars. Mine are focused just for you, so keep your distance.

Are those petals in the street Xi Shi’s broken fingernails?

I can’t stop others from following my stupidities. If I repeat, it’s just to display my cunning.

I can neither stand by the insane and do nothing about the evil of the average, nor stand by the average and do nothing about the evil of the insane.

The clever hurry to use their wisdom before dark.

Gazing at the moon, I frantically press my bike bell, snorting like a horse. The moon’s so tranquil.

On Tuesday, blow out a strand of green smoke from a candle.

On Wednesday, flies from the south defeat flies from the north.

I offer the gathering mice car exhaust. They remain content, agreeing the world should die, but not themselves.

Don’t scare people, scare only those who call themselves people but really aren’t. They need to be frightened, just as they need to be pleased.

I press a coin’s pattern into your skin.

You calculate the sky’s weight. Fine to play around. If you get serious, I’ll have no choice but to strangle you.

Wanderers of night, we should not meet.