Selected poems from 'Tabular Rasa' by Jeff Raheb

Havana       Paro Dzhong - Bhutan       Dal Lake - Kashmir       Bamboo       The Center       I Pour You A Cup Of Tea       For The Women Of Bosnia       You Say It Is Raining       Zimbabwe       The Comet       Pygmalion       Ganges       Nasca - Peru       Zu Twa Szi       Body Rain       The Shadow Puppet (Jogjakarta )                       Songkla - Thailand       5 Haikus

Songkla evening my Japanese friend returns to his room I sit in mine listening to the sound of rotting wood Then she comes again sneaking past the sleeping attendant she looks 14 'You want make nice nice' No, I don't want 'nice nice', I say again She laughs I refuse, leave my gray fungus covered hotel walk into a temple Rows of orange robed monks sit all around Death not a mystery He lies in front of me Burning in his saffron robe Orange smoke spiraling up joining night clouds and moon At midnight they will come and take his bones Not a mystery later, I sit with Buddhist children playing a guitar They sing melodies of the east our voices spiraling up joining orange clouds and saffron moon It is not yet midnight Copyright 2004 Jeff Raheb