Sigh

[keilexandra]

Finished writing a poem for school, then realized that it doesn't exactly fit the teacher's requirements. Mrs. Hollstein seems to be a sort of liberal teacher, but who knows? It's due Thursday, so I'll ask her about my poem today and finish the mini-project tomorrow. (I call it a mini-project because we have to decorate the poem and add a photo of ourselves, too.)

Myself

 

My name is Lisa nowadays, although

once upon a time I went by the name

Yuming -- a literary ivory

lily, two Chinese characters with luck

personified as tiger and water

reeds and humming birds and white butterflies.

 

How would I describe myself, and how would

you describe me? We surely must differ

in perky red-haired adjectives, in faint-

hearted adverbs, in nouns solid as brick,

in hyperactive dancing verbs. I say

I am shy and serious both; I say

I am simultaneously silly and sure.

 

Blood relation I possess to many

varied human beings; but one example

be bilingual, cute and cuddly, plus

irritating and annoying to boot.

Ashley, a tiny tot, my baby sis,

Not quite three years of age --

wide pools of innocence for eyes, chubby

cheekbones hidden under pinchable skin,

fluttering lashes and a giggle-squeal.

 

Love is a powerful word, four simple

letters (un)easily invoked and spelled.

Love is emotion, the key to which is

inscribed upon each person's pulsing heart.

My loves -- my dearest close passions -- are thrice:

vibrant life itself, books of fantasy,

and writing (pouring) out my freshest thoughts.

 

True feelings are much like good descriptions,

an almost rhetorical question yet

you persist in asking. Well, I'll tell you

I feel like a topside earthworm under

shining noon sun; I feel like Einstein trapped

in a pitch-dark room; I feel like every

color in the rainbow spectrum and more,

perceived by a child born without eyes.

 

Everyone needs everything, but what do

I need? Good question. Lonely embers dying

on the hope fire, daily sustenance

like fleshy loaves and holy water-blood;

but mainly, I need a reason to live

out my natural lifespan, a reason to

hide the cardboard box of forbidden things

and never, ever release Pandora.

 

Who can understand fear? Not I, for sure.

Irrationality is fear's shadow,

a curse and blessing of dark mystery.

Creepy-crawlies elicit a shriek, yet

grinning clowns seem and are innocuous.

Pain I fear more than death itself, which will

be an oblivion of salvation.

Life too, that paradoxical condition

that intelligence is so well aware;

what do we fear more, out of these extremes?

 

To save our souls, we practice charity.

For Christmas I give to the whole world

three gifts: an item, a thought, and a dream.

First unwrap the sole concrete, that symbol

none should forget -- a sparkling glass prism

to represent our lives as a ray

of microscopic, invisible light.

Next comes a nugget of philosophy,

a simple sentence: "Life and its meaning

are equally uncomprehendable."

Last is the dream of each generation,

utopic vision of lasting world peace;

found more often in ancient empires.

 

Why are humans so fixated on sight?

I'd like to see some appreciation

for the other four senses, especially

in prompts from an English teacher. (Kidding!)

I'd like to see the Pacific Ocean

and revel in salty crashing crests;

I'd like to see an imaginary

world of magic and dragons and castles.

 

Our residency -- city, state,

country -- is whatever you wish to call

home. For me at the moment, home is here

in the suburbs of Wilmington city,

in little overlooked Delaware state.

I shall not claim this country, U.S.A.,

For alien and resident differ.

Canada is my true home. Hail the Queen!

 

You ask for my surname, and I’m afraid

this time there is no interesting tale.

My family name is Bao, the character

for "bag". Look in my navy blue passport

and see, my name is Lisa Yuming Bao.

I'm not satisfied with it, but I can't change the weird parts without violating the outline even more.

Comments

[tiger-san.livejournal.com]

hmmm...it does sound strange in places and the line breaks are kinda weird (to me anyway), but I still like it. I never thought you would tell the world your middle name. Now, tell me, are all your new teachers just dieing to get to know you or is it just a Cab thing...? All of mine seemed to have never heard of the phrase "learn as you go".