works by william pham, 2005-present

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Jade Tigers

In a cabinet there is a tiger of jade
With hard green eyes and sharp green fangs;
He bares his fangs at the little Buddha statue
And the phoenix with wide green wings.
He listens to the shouts, he listens to the screams,
And closes his ears to the world,
The world that leaves bright red lines with lacquered nails
As proof of its existence.

On enameled wood there lives an old fisherman
With a bamboo hat and moustache;
He waits patiently for the catfish
And writes poetry in parallel.
He listens to the shouts, he listens to the screams,
And closes his ears to the world,
The world that leaves bright red scars across the dark-blue sky
As proof of its existence.

My parents keep encaged a tiger of hard jade
With hard green eyes and sharp green fangs;
He bares his fangs at the little Buddha statue
And writes poetry in parallel.
We tigers of hard jade did not fight our parents' war,
So we close our ears to the world,
The world that left bright red scars on our history
As proof of its existence.

Remember all of us, we tigers of hard jade,
Were once boys and girls that from scars were made.
We bare our fangs and write poetry in parallel.

copyright (c) 2006 by william pham