Three Poems by Joshua Bocher

Foreigner

It helps to hold
A camera
While traveling.

Otherwise,
They ask why
Are you here
With their eyes.

Having Been Awakened by Sparrows in Zhutang

Water of the rice paddies still
And moving at the same time,
Radiant glow from the sun
In the early morning.

Idyll

We circled Sun Moon Lake on a motorized bike.

From every point was pale purple hills in the distance
And the turquoise colored water up close.

We got lucky with the weather,
Went when it wasn’t too hot
Or too cold.

My wife goaded me into trying to ride the bike.
Every ten feet I’d ride and fall,
Ride and fall,
Ride and fall.

From the back seat of the two seater,
Practically lying down,
My wife rode in circles
With precise and perfect balance.

“You show off!” was all I could muster.

The sun felt good in our hair.

Three Poems by Joshua Bocher