“Treading on Grass” by He Zhu [w/ Audio]

On winding pool with willows dim,
At narrow strait the lovebirds swim.
Green duckweeds float,
Barring the lotus-picking boat.
Nor butterflies nor bees
Love fragrance from the withered trees.
When her red petals fall apart,
The lotus bloom 's bitter at heart.

The setting sun greets rising tide,
The floating clouds bring rain.
The swaying lotus seems to confide,
Her sorrow to the poet in vain.

Then she would not be wed to vernal breeze.
What could she do now autumn drives away wild geese?

Translation: Xu Yuanchong [translator]. 2021. Deep, Deep the Courtyard. [庭院深深.] Cite Publishing: Kuala Lumpur, p.226.

“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]

My candle burns at both ends;
 It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
 It gives a lovely light!

“The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” by Francis William Bourdillon [w/ Audio]

The night has a thousand eyes,
 And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
 With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
 And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
 When love is done.

“I never saw a moor” (1052) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

I never saw a moor;
I never saw the sea,
 Yet know I how the heather looks
  And what a billow be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven.
 Yet certain am I of the spot
 As if the checks were given. 

The Daffodils by William Wordsworth [w/ Audio]

Source: Wikipedia [Pub Dom Image]
I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
 When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
 Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
   Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the milky way,
 They stretched in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
 Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
   Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
 A poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
 I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
   What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
 They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
 And then my heart with pleasure fills,
   And dances with the daffodils.

The Dead Space [Lyric Poem]

The trees will soon be barren, all.
 It is that time of year -- the Fall.

The understory never was,
 and can't now house the insect buzz.

And, so, the woods stand silently --
 nothing treads in peace, nor violently.

It's empty; devoid of motion:
 life hides below, as in Oceans.

It does feel like we're out to sea -
 a strange place where both sides are lee.

And - so - we're stuck, we can't move on,
 but can see promise over yon.

Masquerade [Lyric Poem]

Welcome to the masquerade!
   It is your home from now on.
 The you you were will soon fade
   as you play out the long con.

Welcome to the masquerade!
   Where all faces are untrue.
 We are just the roles we've played,
    not the selves we never knew.

Welcome to the masquerade!
   Do you know just who I am?
 I'm only what I've conveyed.
   It's the "real me" that's a sham! 

Li Bai [Lyric Poem]

Li Bai fills his cup;
 Li Bai loves his wine;
  Li Bai sits in moonlight,
 staring at the sky. 

You, Too [Lyric Poem]

I cannot be one.
 I cannot be lost.
  I cannot buy my entry
      at a payable cost.

I cannot be three.
 I cannot be boss.
  I cannot isolate: diamonds
      from the dross.

I think I can be two,
 just the me & you.
  our two could be one,
      like two planks form a cross.

Chokehold [Lyric Poem]

Source: Wikipedia; cropped & modified; Khmeri chokehold
dying by the second
   from a starving brain;
 each new panicked moment
   narrows down the frame.

now, my world is dwindling,
   shrinking to a dot:
 like TV's used to do
    when you shut them off.

Now, this poem is done.
   there's nothing past one pel --
 except for oblivion:
    no sight, no sound, no smell.