Paul Lobo Portugés was reared in Merkel, West Texas, until saved by UCLA, the American Film Institute, and UC Berkeley. Teaches creative writing at UCSB. Taught creative writing at UCSB, UC Berkeley, USC, SBCC, and the University of Provence. Proud father of two sons. Books include The Visionary Poetics of Allen Ginsberg, Saving Grace, Hands Across the Earth, The Flower Vendor, Paper Song, Aztec Birth, The Body Electric Journal, The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, and Mao (forthcoming). Poems are scattered in small magazines across America. Award winning poetry films include To Beloved, Kiss, Lovers, The Lonely Wind, Fathermine, and Of Her I Sing. Received awards from the National Endowment, the Ford Foundation, the American Film Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Fulbright Commission.
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Morning North Wind.: Kai-hui to her beloved Mao
1
morning north wind grey day
alone in a corner of our bed
cold to the bone yearning
for you my faraway man
has your foot healed?
has your winter coat arrived?
who watches over you while you sleep?
if you die my tears will shroud your corpse
if I die?
2
no letters come through,
I wait, look, nothing.
would I had wings
to hover near you my dear
unable I am sorrow without end
3
I lean on others
dream I welcome the God of Death
curling around my heart
like a poisonous snake
I am misery
have you forgotten me?
4
I pity our children
do you miss them?
they won’t grow like others
play in the warm spring
they are ravaged
by the violent storm of revolution
5
oh my beloved
I want to kiss your eyes
you my man belong to me
I want to go to you
come come to me
warm my loneliness
with an open heart
dare I hope?
Changsha, China, 1929
(The Nationalists assassinated Kai-hui after Mao
refused to ransom her and their sons) |
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