2 Poems - "Sita and the Orangutans Sumatra Sutra" and "Lully Lullay"

Thanks to Alvin Pang and Ravi Shankar for publishing a couple poems in Drunken Boat, a special issue on the theme of Union, including poets from Singapore and the United States. I took the occasion to consider orangutans in Sumatra in "Sita and the Orangutans Sumatra Sutra."

I also included a poem "Lully Lullay," written Dec. 24, 2014, a jazzy livestream of upsetting headlines and songclips (Joni Mitchell and mournful Xmas tunes) and my neighborhood happenings including migrant birds' journeys, all against the background of the culture winding down to a standstill on the day before the holiday.

Read and Listen to the Poems Here

Poetry Mixtape Video: "The Nearness of You" in SF's Bangout Reading Series

On March 23, 2012, I read at the Amnesia Bar as part of SF's Bangout Reading Series. Thanks to curators Kevin Boone and Amick Boone! The theme we prepared new work on: "Mixtape." I read & sang my poem, "The Nearness of You," which mixes statistics on species extinction from scholar Juliet Schor's wonderful book Plenitude, with my singing Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory," with my original ode to the beautiful and endangered Owl Butterfly, which I had the honor of seeing face to face in the rainforest of Ecuador in 2009. A mixtape indeed! Watch the video here.

The Sun Has Fallen on the Floor

The sun has fallen on the floor
But I don’t mind
They say hurry up rush
But I take my time

The sun has fallen on the floor
The room has a rising temperature
I’m listening to everything you say
But I’m not so sure

Cherry blossoms blooming in the grey sky
I can hear the freeway from here
I’m listening to everything you say
But I’m not so sure
I’ll listen to the freeway

Listen to the song

Song: Why Am I So Pink?

Why am I so pink?
Can’t seem to avoid the sun
The sun makes me blink
But it shines on everyone

Then why am I so pink?
Wanted to be fair
The sun plays a prank
Upon my cheeks and chin

Go to sleep and I am pink
Wake up and I am pink
Even the night
Seems to shine

Why am I so pink?
I wanted to be fair
My face has to shrink
From all the light that is out there

They say Apply a little zinc
I do but I’m still pink

Red red redder
Paper in the shredder

All this light it stinks
Forget it let’s play tiddly-winks


Listen to the song

Song: It's Raining Here Today!

Song: It’s Raining Here Today

it’s raining here today there’s a
space between the clouds
reports about mudslides caving
hills way down south

it’s raining here today I’d be your
friend if I weren’t busy
typing and thinking about the
gutters overflowing

it’s raining here today window
panes are struck
with water hitting slantwise life has
come unstuck I see you between

it’s raining here today I’d have to
say the sun is elsewhere
in these parts it’s what it means
means to be winter:
grey cement and water on the sky

it’s raining here today there’s a
space between the clouds
news reports about mudslides caving
hills way down south

I’d be your friend if I weren’t I’d have to
say the sun is elsewhere
grey cement and water on the sky
look at us we’re still inside

Listen to the song (1 1/2 min.)