I'd never seen an Impala,
until one day I did.
Except an eighty-five Chevy,
back when I was a kid.
The Chevy was not lean, nor quick,
as real Impalas are.
Had this bovid ever been seen
by the namer of cars?
I tried to see commonality:
one was made and one born,
One was clunky and unagile,
but both came standard with horn.
This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.
Pay it I will to the end --
Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release --
Gives me the clasp of peace.
Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best --
God! but the interest!
A Monitor Lizard strolls through the park --
A mid-day stroll, not at dusk or after dark.
The walkers and joggers give it wide berth
As it monitors them for all its worth.
As a friend to the children commend me the Yak.
You will find it exactly the thing:
It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back,
Or lead it about with a string.
The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet
(A desolate region of snow)
Has for centuries made it a nursery pet,
And surely the Tartar should know!
Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got,
And if he is awfully rich
He will buy you the creature -- or else he will not.
(I cannot be positive which.)
Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
And the sun looked over the mountain's rim:
And straight was a path of gold for him,
And the need of a world of men for me.
There’s a writhing pile of pigeons —
Not two or a few or a smidgen —
You can raise their clout, and call them doves,
But I’m glad they're not on the wires above.
Banish Air from Air --
Divide Light if you dare --
They'll meet
While Cubes in a Drop
Or Pellets of Shape
Fit --
Films cannot annul
Odors return whole
Force Flame
And with a Blonde push
Over your impotence
Flits Steam.
I saw, crawling out of the weeds,
One quickstepping millipede.
But, going daft, it's bow and stern
Started to clash, and - as each turned -
It tied itself in a knot.
My Spring sleep is unswayed by dawn --
Though birds are heard through screen, still drawn.
Recalling night sounds of rain and wind,
I wonder how the flowers have thinned?
Original in Chinese:
春眠不覺曉，
處處聞啼鳥。
夜來風雨聲，
花落知多少。
I look straight upward and I see
A wasp nest hanging over me:
By a mere twig it's dangling,
And this, my nerves, is jangling.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 