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Poems 2007
(By Gary Yia
Lee)
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All lies and farewells?
6/14/07
Please don’t say love is all lies and
hushed whispers
When love calls from the depth of one’s longing heart
Summoning its victim to face a merciless executioner
Before tasting the ecstasy of love in one’s hungry soul
So please do not ever say it’s all lies and farewells
No, it is all desire and joy encased in jade green
shells
It’s all roses and wine that’ll make life ever so full.
I know you feels unsure when you are
still young
But when you are older, nothing seems to go wrong
You can share your anguished spirit without reserve
Longing to be with the one you love, warm in the heart
Giving in to the care and the wise loving you deserve
So please do not say that it is all lies and depart
When love will take you on a life journey soon to start
You say you want to be with me but dare
not call
Why must that be when I want the same and all
But I do not hear you speak, nor your laughter and cries
Why choose a pillow at night to share your sorrow
When I lay here by your side but you don’t know
Embrace me and call out so I can hear your voice
And let our souls touch and our sad hearts rejoice
So please do not say now that you want
nothing of me
For I want everything of your love, my source of life
I want everything of you like I want the warm sunlight
Without your smile, I cannot sustain this long fight
Only with your love will I hold on to my expiring light
So please say nice things to me, or else I would die
From the sorrow of your farewells and your hasty flight.
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Lady in Red..
Oh,
the lady in red standing there tall
On the floor at the Hmong New Year ball
All eyes set on her lithe sturdy frame
As she waits for him to take the chance
And lead her on a merry go-round dance
Her beauty would bring Venus to shame.
The
blazing lady in red, she has stature
She dances with grace, she steps with allure
Red ear-rings matched by red bangles
Black lacy shoes tied around slim ankles
She has good taste, a real sense of fashion
Making his heart pining for her moon.
The lady
in red, she so enjoys the dance
She swirls around like she is entranced
The tall lady in red, she also loves to sing
Her voice is like water running in a spring
Clear and strong like a soprano in an opera
She can dance, she can sing at any fiesta.
Oh,
beautiful lady in red, you make him
Fall for you as he lays helpless and bleeding
At your feet while you listen to his pleading
He has strength neither to rise nor to see
His eyes all blinded by your dazzling sight
His heart consumed by your burning light.
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Even though….
8/5/07
Even
though I can see the beauty of love
I’d rather turn and look the other way
For I don’t want my heart to be swayed
By the anguish that may come with love.
Even
though I hear the passing of love
I pretend I am somewhere unknown
All is quiet, everything is silent around
I don’t want to listen to the sound of love
Even
though I need the comfort of love
I will act strong and put on a fake smile
I’d rather walk alone the next long mile
Pretending I don’t want to know love.
Even
though I crave for the ecstasy of love
I stay proud, standing firm in my position
For I’ve been numbed by your last rejection
Blinded by the hurt and the agony of love.
Even though I have drunk the cup of love
It has not quenched my thirst or my wander
It has given little satiation for my hunger
For it is you and you only that I want to love.
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Rain of Love
Don’t
know what is this that keeps falling
Down my face like some kind of dreaming.
Are they tears, are they drops of rain?
Sorry that my heart seems to be in pain
Pain I cannot tell, hurt I cannot share
Don’t know what to do so I can only stare.
Don’t know why I cry through my smile
Hope it’s only temporary, just for a while
Not sure what brings me this awful pain
That fills my heart like a spreading stain.
Is it because you say you don’t want love
You keep silent, you avoid being involved?
Don’t
know why I keep on with the chasing
But let me admire, let me cherish on my own
Only return my love if your heart is willing
So you need not worry, let me do it alone
And I will feel better, relieved after the crying
So bear with me while my tears are drying.
It’s hard
but I will get over this aching pain
When I see the blue sky without a cloud
I will get over it, I will wipe away the rain
And gladden my heart without a shout
When I can say out loud that I’m now fine
After my eyes clear and I see the sunshine.
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If reality could be changed…
If reality
could be changed into dreams
I’d bring back my youth to be with you
I’d make your tender wishes come true
And keep you for always inside my seams.
If dreams
could be changed into you
I would not let them disappear or fall
I would put you bright on a pedestal
And admire you each single day anew.
If dreams
could be changed into reality
And you could be put inside their frailty
I would make you feel tranquil and warm
As my love shields you from the storm.
If you
could be changed into a dream
I will make it the sole object of my whim
I will spray it with the perfume of beauty
And keep your heart with me for infinity.
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What is the point
What is
the point of waiting for your love
When my heart is aching to let you know
But my mind dares not break its silence
And you continue to keep your cool distance?
What is
the point of playing the game
When you pretend not to know me still
You call me “Hi” instead of my real name
And I dare not ask what you really feel?
What is
the point of going with existence
If it is without you standing by my side
Taking care of ills, enjoying each stride
Living life to the full in all its exuberance?
There
would be a point in my dark state
If Jezebel walked through the city gate
And mend my stilled heart with her solace
As you take me into your warm ambrace.
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Your Heart is
Made…
8/5/07
What is
it that makes your heart shifting
From one day when it is warm and loving
To the next when it is cold like snow falling
Today it is sunny, open wide and soothing
Tomorrow it is silent, closed and uncaring.
Your heart
is made like a single red rose
Don’t be afraid, don’t let it become morose
Welcome new experiences in small doses
Scenting life with perfume from the stars
And love will find its way to your little heart.
Your true
heart is made like a pile of gold
With a chain secured to its gleaming folds
You dangle it before unsuspecting admirers
A woman who teases and collects suitors
Often on the move from one love to another.
Do not
let your heart become like stone
Unyielding, unruffled and without feelings
I plead, I seek and shout but it doesn’t see
The cold stone keeps it forever running
When will you stop and converse with me?
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Are you afraid of love
Are you
afraid of love, seeming to be tough
But deep inside you know you’ve had it rough
You thought by his love he would always abide
But he left so you have to swallow your pride.
You are
hurting, for you have been betrayed
You gave him so much, now you feel amazed
You ask, you wonder what has gone wrong
And you’ve to tell yourself to remain strong
You were
generous, eagerly giving love away
You tried hard and you hoped he would stay
But you were naïve, you knew it was no use
Now you’re cautious, looking for safe refuge.
You have
tasted the bitterness of love scarred
Your heart was left broken, your soul jarred
You saw it was bleeding, you felt suffocating
And now you have learned to stay unyielding.
Let me
mend your heart and wrap it in bandage
I will nurture your wound, fixing all its damage
Let me take it outside and give it some sunshine
Sprinkle it with true love and you will feel divine.
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To My Young Hmong
10/14/07
You are young, a youth
with many Hmong siblings
You left the refugee camp where life was rough
In the new land of freedom, you try to be tough
You confront life challenges, you are no underling
Yet you are hurting, for
you have nowhere to turn
You look left and right, your life is all concerns
Your parents want you to succeed,
but feel outdone
They have no English or
skills, so you stand alone
You question, you wonder
what has gone wrong
And you’ve to tell yourself to keep going strong
You try hard, so hard because you are here to stay
Things are difficult now but will turn good one day
You were naïve, thinking
things would be rosy
Now you want to hide where it is warm and cosy
You have tasted the rawness of life on the margin
You join the crowd but it sends you out on a spin
You are young, do not
lose heart to life’s deceits
Have courage to grow tall and stamp out defeats
Learn to be on your own feet like a strong yearling
Work hard, study more and life will be most rewarding.
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Ban
Vinai
Ban Vinai, nestled over
six hills and four muddy creeks
Your high mountain looks down on forty thousand refugees
Defending their souls with its sharp limestone peaks
These cast-aways living inside houses with iron-roof
Many died but others were also born in your safe haven
Hmong running from
Laos, land of communist re-education
Ban Vinai, you were
inspirations to poets and singers
You were the first to inspire many a new troubadour
To teach Hmong the modern music they now devour
When money was needed for food, you taught women
To invent colorful handcrafts, to sew new embroideries
They now make wall-hangings into new social tapestries.
Ban Vinai, you gave us
new thoughts and new religions
Our Chao Fa was thriving for being inside your gates
In their idle hours, you inspired members with new dates
For Hmong history that went back to times of dinosaurs
With fantasies about Hmong kings, statues and idols
Fanfare in nine-corner house of worship and other lore
Ban Vinai, you bring
back smiles and Cupid’s love
To Hmong young men and girls fleeing Laos in the night
Who now enjoy the prime of their youth, walking in
droves
Or sitting outside their houses, romance in full flight
Some had love fulfilled, others ended in tragic suicide
You love so many but also without pity cast a few
aside.
Ban Vina, we still
remember you all these many years
Although the people have gone, the jungle now soars
The creeks are clean, the dust a dense green space
The long houses on stilt torn down, only few in place
The memories of your generosity, an endearing embrace
Deep in our Hmong hearts, you have a very special place.
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Koj Puas Nco Vib Nais
Ntau
xyoo lawm los kuv tseem nco Vib Nais
Wb txoj kev hlub
kev plees hauv yeej thoj nam
Lub caij thaum ub
uas wb ob leeg tseem hluas
Nyob ua ke niaj hnub tham tsis muaj nrhuav
Sib nyiam ib ntus ces koj
hla niam dej hiav txwv
Mus nyob sab hnub
poob teb chaws nraum ub
Kuv nyob Vib Nais nplooj siab puas pes ntswv
Ntsia ntsoov xub ke tos koj moo los tsis hnov koj lus
Koj puas nco tej lus ua
ntej wb kev hlub yuav raug cai
Koj puas pom kuv
tej kua muag thaum wb sib ncaim
Koj mus ntsiag tos tsis hnov ib suab lawm tau ntev
Cia kuv ib leeg
nyob tos koj hauv kuv lub vaj lub tsev
Ntev lawm koj mus ua lub
neej nyob zoo li cas
Puas tseem nco
txog wb kev hlub hauv Vib Nais
Sib ncaim tau ntau lub niaj mus rau lub xyoo
Koj puas tseem xav
txog wb tej qub kev sib zoo
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