by Flavia Rocha Loures

Xiamen

Wandering the backstreets of Xiamen
I find myself in wonder once again
astonished at nature’s strange ways
to whisper secrets
and cast spells
and break men’s rules
as the night grows quieter
the darkness deeper…

… just up until that moment when
an explosion invites the light back in

Southern Constellations

With a golden moon floating low in the skies,
a starry night bursting with promise,
China bids me farewell.
She knows
I am homebound.
I need to
‘sunwind’.

Next time
I see this yellow moon,
there will be more green to it
with the unique constellations of southern skies
as canvas.

For now, I sit in silence
and witness a gathering of colors
slowly take over darkness out there.
I think about the days ahead
swarming with possibilities
like recent Xiamen nights.

Change
it is everywhere, I can feel it
oozing through my body
pulsating in the horizon
vibrant and inspiring as
permanence could never be.

Oh, golden moon,
you are changing, too – hence
the clever smile, excited glance, dynamic hues
in you, and in those few familiar faces
I shall be missing after all…
like the stars that disappear, one by one,
to give room to the stunning sunrise
gaining shape out of my window.

It takes courage to see it unfold
this bittersweet ride of transformation
all the way along a rainbow.

The Musician with the Blue Flower

contemplating
the sun sink into the sea, the artiste
held a blue flower, delicately in
his creative grip, seeking in its hues
inspiration, inebriating scents,
like absinthe, flower flowing in time and
space, the water, fingers nimbly moving
in the air, to the rhythm of the waves
and the sunset, and the dance of dolphins
and eagles and voices, he turned and glanced
at possibility, sparkling blue eyes
like the flower, sapphire and indigo
petals, sky-like leaves, depth and beauty, the
magic of music playing in silence
a quiet crescendo of magnificence
all the way to zenith, to eruption
then he knew, really had it, that feeling,
floral composition in cerulean
of a lifetime.

Stars

Oh my, I miss the stars
such heavy clouds
grey polluted skies
taint my heart
burn my eyes

Oh I yearn for the stars
all these city lights
have blinded me
the world’s out there
I cannot see

Oh my, I need the stars
seek out the moon
through outer space
flown into infinite’s
deep embrace

Oh I, I feed off stars
nourished by suns
with planets I twirl
in cosmic moves like
a little girl

陰陽^*

lights
burning up my eyes
washed up in disguise
lies
what a pretty sight
messed up funky nights
fine
silly butterfly
try
broken bird fight the skies
fight
tears that aren’t mine
denial in a twisted mind
fuck that story line
hurt sigh demystify
fuck & feel alive
nothing more to hide
I subside
ever poeticize
deep there will I
burst lust glide
when darkness triumphs tonight
irresistibly seducing light

*Chinese characters for yin & yang

Xiamen & Other Poems