welcome to the haikutimes
Issue #58, China: Lijiang, April 16-17, 2003. haiku and photographs by jonathan with a few haiku by Barbara Lenssen.
4/15/03 Lijiang
another slow truck
covered by canvas patches
belches diesel smoke
flat-headed driver
honks before passing blue truck
we talk of culture
our group protesting
about dirty tablecloths
and undercooked eggs
to get to the loo
you must walk through the showroom
past pricey objects
sweeping wide to pass,
driver narrowly misses
three pigs in a truck
the only billboards -
hand-painted signs on houses
for phone companies
deconstructing homes
with only a sledgehammer,
they recycle bricks
as many signs
apprioximating english
as sacred temples
salesroom alert:
taken to drink mountain tea
i know what is next
a sweet aftertaste
on the heels of bitter tea
oolong and rosehips
drinking bitter tea
while lawnmower drones
and stomach churns
local naxi girl
washes the tea leaves three times
before serving us
unable to talk
to the most beautiful girl
i've seen in china
loading heavy stones
in flimsy wicker backbacks
naxi ladies stare
tribal naxi dance
staccato sounds, fluttery
high-pitched orchestra
old man paints
heiroglyphics
the letter of tears
midrange, drones, cymbals, kazoo sounds,
a headdress like the pope,
fluttery flutes, plucky
high pitched-orchestra
of cymbals, drones and violins
and peacock headdress
unwinding long scroll
headman twirls wooden sceptre
orchestra sings on
dying expression
seventy-year old men keep
the music alive
transforming herself
our naxi guide reappears
in her western clothes
canal etiquitte:
mornings for drinking
cleaning in the afternoon
camellia blooms
for over five hundred years!
ten thousand flowers
on baisha murals
anti-buddhist inscriptions
legacy of mao
diamond eyes removed
ox, devils, snake, spirits
mural under fire
dancing for tourists
positioned strategically
to capture our cash
small kitten content
on bag of canola seeds
stone walkway polished
and wrinkled like dragon skin
in ancient village
cherry and wisteria
over dragon spring
washing pink pork guts
in community canal
surprised to hear phone
old timers creeping
down village street, stopping
now and then to spit
dog in metal cave
snarls as five chinese tourists
poke a stick at him
cipro cottonmouth
after popping two large pills
wile stomach rumbles
lotus lanterns float
like starlight down the canal
under stone bridges
charming, obnoxious
shop owners from within
incessant 'hallo'
square-headed baby
carried by squat grandmother
gives me asian eye
Barbara Lenssen's haiku
airplane over moonrise
we wait on deserted streets
full moon, glowing globe
changing china, old
small, grey, black; young tall, cellphone
bright colors, tight jeans
old neighborhoods gone
prople move to high risers
relocation good?
naxi loves dali
lovers meet only to die
religion means death
wisteria blooms
chusters drooping lavendar
temples with frescoes
ancient frescoes gleam
buddha with diamond eyes gouged
ancient frescoes gleam
roots entwined lovers
camelia blooms defy death
couples take pictures
4/15/03 Lijiang
another slow truck
covered by canvas patches
belches diesel smoke
flat-headed driver
honks before passing blue truck
we talk of culture
our group protesting
about dirty tablecloths
and undercooked eggs
to get to the loo
you must walk through the showroom
past pricey objects
sweeping wide to pass,
driver narrowly misses
three pigs in a truck
the only billboards -
hand-painted signs on houses
for phone companies
deconstructing homes
with only a sledgehammer,
they recycle bricks
as many signs
apprioximating english
as sacred temples
salesroom alert:
taken to drink mountain tea
i know what is next
a sweet aftertaste
on the heels of bitter tea
oolong and rosehips
drinking bitter tea
while lawnmower drones
and stomach churns
local naxi girl
washes the tea leaves three times
before serving us
unable to talk
to the most beautiful girl
i've seen in china
loading heavy stones
in flimsy wicker backbacks
naxi ladies stare
tribal naxi dance
staccato sounds, fluttery
high-pitched orchestra
old man paints
heiroglyphics
the letter of tears
midrange, drones, cymbals, kazoo sounds,
a headdress like the pope,
fluttery flutes, plucky
high pitched-orchestra
of cymbals, drones and violins
and peacock headdress
unwinding long scroll
headman twirls wooden sceptre
orchestra sings on
dying expression
seventy-year old men keep
the music alive
transforming herself
our naxi guide reappears
in her western clothes
canal etiquitte:
mornings for drinking
cleaning in the afternoon
camellia blooms
for over five hundred years!
ten thousand flowers
on baisha murals
anti-buddhist inscriptions
legacy of mao
diamond eyes removed
ox, devils, snake, spirits
mural under fire
dancing for tourists
positioned strategically
to capture our cash
small kitten content
on bag of canola seeds
stone walkway polished
and wrinkled like dragon skin
in ancient village
cherry and wisteria
over dragon spring
washing pink pork guts
in community canal
surprised to hear phone
old timers creeping
down village street, stopping
now and then to spit
dog in metal cave
snarls as five chinese tourists
poke a stick at him
cipro cottonmouth
after popping two large pills
wile stomach rumbles
lotus lanterns float
like starlight down the canal
under stone bridges
charming, obnoxious
shop owners from within
incessant 'hallo'
square-headed baby
carried by squat grandmother
gives me asian eye
Barbara Lenssen's haiku
airplane over moonrise
we wait on deserted streets
full moon, glowing globe
changing china, old
small, grey, black; young tall, cellphone
bright colors, tight jeans
old neighborhoods gone
prople move to high risers
relocation good?
naxi loves dali
lovers meet only to die
religion means death
wisteria blooms
chusters drooping lavendar
temples with frescoes
ancient frescoes gleam
buddha with diamond eyes gouged
ancient frescoes gleam
roots entwined lovers
camelia blooms defy death
couples take pictures
solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen