The Dictator’s Dream or The Son of god Trembles By Mike Zone He was dreaming of cats again. Looking for something pure. He wanted to be pure. He was pure…or they said. The black and white kitten was now a full-grown memorial balloon coming down on the citizenry of Seoul, spreading a noxious green gas turning them to what he loved best…cats, this would be his City of Cats, now that the Divine Empire had been rendered officially victorious. K’s father would be proud, only it was not past tense but the here and now. A technicolor ghost of gray uniform and glowing golden Buddha skin and he was there presenting him the Gatekeeper of Eternal Paradise, Chamchi The Cat…get it? Translated into dumb Americanese for the dotard President Triumph, Tuna the Cat, get it, the cat is named after what it enjoys to eat when it is in fact not what the cat is? Ha-ha. K was funny even as a child and his father rewarding him his dead reborn cat at the moment of triumph when Triumph and the rest of the world who opposed him was just cinders and ash. He cuddled his illuminated and cosmically soft feline friend from childhood who long ago disappeared with a mangled leg never to return and wept tears upon the earth from the cloud in from which he hovered above the dry dead lands, tears of bliss and purity rejuvenated and fertilized what was lost and from bombed out husks of continents grew vast fields of rice patties and trees of water fruit bearing infinite arrays of fish from within. The world would no longer go hungry again. The Great Leader had won. The Son God had never trembled and bowed before his father ready to be anointed as God himself, sending his own father to a blissful rest in the grateful ever expansive wave of forever. K awoke. The Son of God awakened to another day. Glory to The Leader. Three looming attendants chanted. Gold featureless masks and black cloaks. “Morning is here. The Son of God does not tremble. Oh, save us from universal mourning, Oh Son of God. We surrender to your salvation.” He was curled up in the womb position in order to be reborn each and every day and time he slept. “Great Leader, we strive for you, yearn for you. Oh, Great Leader save us from darkness, lead our childish sinful hands to the light.” K knew he was really rolled up like a ball and could have cared less. There were no cats in this sterile white room, nor clouds even though his bed felt like one. “Dawn! Touched by the Great Leader! The Son of God, does not tremble!” K tumbled out of bed. The attendants scampered around, prostrating themselves before him as if it were a grace and delicate birth. He had his boots on. He was nude. The attendants pounded their fists on the floor, beat their chests and wept on how unworthy they were to be in Great Leader’s presence. He swayed back and forth groggy from his afternoon slumber which was needed for the first three hours of his day diplomatic duties depleted his being. The door slid open and three white clad virgin brides entered. Virginal though they were, they were still impure seeking something pure much like he was, but was he pure to begin with and if he himself was pure without knowing it, wouldn’t that make everyone else just as pure, possibly divine? Best not to consider anything of the sort, there were no cats here, ergo how could he really know anything? The needled plunged into a fat roll, his rotund finger recoiled, shuddered and all of a sudden K stood straightly erect like a rocket ready to launched overseas delivering thunderous flames of liberation and blessings. The dwarven virgin hair down like a common street girl, threw the apparatus down which was quickly picked up by a guard. The vial it was connected to contained a cocktail of vitamins needed to keep the Great Leader ever vigilant and healthy at the height of perceptive power. K felt a comforting warmth engulf his blood vessels, an electrical current circulated through bone and sinew, blooding rushed like a typhoon to his private member, “Chamchi Junior” in honor of Tuna the Cat who he always held in the most intimate part of his soul, hidden from even All-Father God and Supreme-Leader, his father. His mother knew but Mother May I no longer existed, nor did she ever as he was repeatedly told. “K, you have no mother.” His maiden-wife proclaimed. The cocktail of vitamins silenced these thoughts as his cock swelled toward the trio tale, disrobed, and setting on all fours before him. Mechanically the virgins spat and rubbed themselves wet to receive the poison he must spew from his system in order to cleanse the dirty realm with his cleansing seed. He chose the plump one to the left with the pigtails and thrust himself inside her. “I love you, oh Son God.” She cried in a forced moan, gyrating in a dramatically staged ecstasy. The other virgins rolled around, reaching toward the sky. “Will the Great Leader ever one day choose to love us?” K pumped vigorously away hoping to end this filthy exercise as soon as possible. The theatrics emotionally wounded him. These women didn’t love him nor would they ever just as he could never love them. They acting within the mechanics of which they were created for. How could he a man of flesh and blood descended from Heaven love a machine? Once upon a time, when he was dreaming of cats…a herd came to him in a dream, they spoke without moving their lips, eye broadcasting ray of thought transforming into images in his brain, the secret language of cats. He plunged all the way inside his virgin bride as she wept begging to be impregnated. The rest of virgins weeping at their missed chance to take part in divine conception. K was not yet God only the son he quivered at what he started to remember but didn’t want to explode just yet inside this robotic girl for lack of pride and remembered the set of purple doors which opened to the golden hall his cat friends had shown him within his dream; a hallway of glass cases containing all manners of shapes, eyes, noises and mouths, a variety of skin toned doll parts to shape the record of a not yet living being, even the schematics for his wife were plastered across the ceiling along with the schematics of various dispatched concepts for potential wives and consorts had been, being or had yet to be. He climaxed as he put the girl he was inside together from the various parts. There was much rejoicing as the Son of God did not tremble doing his duty with a mighty roar which really sounded like a pig’s squeal but this was the world K knew he lived in until he could find something pure and pretended to blindly accept it as a guard wiped him down, while groveling and simpering how as much as he risked his life he could never be as brave as the Great Leader. They met eyes. The guard bowed. K stiffened his upper lip and solemnly nodded. The door slide open and General Shipeo ran into the room and fell on the floor before K. He held his hands out, asking for mercy before the naked Son of God. K stood stupefied as his attendants dressed him in the same gray uniform as he wore day in and day out much like his father The God-King of Neo-Heaven. “Great Leader, Son of God who does not tremble! The military has failed. The police have failed. The Red-Light District we thought extinguished burns bright with vice corrupting our people and attracting killers from far off lands. We know your burden is great God-Prince of Forthcoming Golden Eternity, a killer terrorizes our unlawful whores and frightens our people…Johnny American, sent by the dotard President Triumph to strike fear into our people, sullies their innocence, I beseech you for our salvation and forgive our failure.” This was it. This was the purity the cats alluded to in his dreams. The search was over. The quest could begin. K would be pure. The people would be pure. The land would be pure. All he needed was his special uniform to hunt Johnny American for one had to blend in looking like an “American Johnny” to stalk and slay one Johnny American. He would hunt just like the killer masquerading as an illegal American Tourist would look, needing to slake his thirst in the dim world of the flesh trade. One attendant cut him out of his uniform with oversized scissors, while the other two put him in tapered khakis and a red Hawaiian shirt with gold flowers and fish, crowning him with a white fisherman’s hat but saving the best for last, he would know Johnny American’s every move for the great General Shipeo bequeathed upon him eight-ball sunglasses so he could see the plethora of the villain’s possible moves before any could be enacted. All fell to their knees before K, praising him as the Son of God who did not tremble and Great Leader who could never falter. K was all that stood before the Bright Land and the onslaught of American terrorism. He thought about this and the ever allusive purity, dreams, and cats, most especially Chamchi as the chopper landed and he was all but pushed out into the dark alley in his ridiculous outfit, his most loyal men, sacred friends and honorable followers laughing and waving in which nothing felt right. He clutched the M-16 they had given him which felt much lighter than it should have as he had shot them off before and the texture felt so…rubbery but “It is a new type of gun, Great Leader meant to look like a toy to distract and inflict more harm with false perception.” He was assured. Crimson light flooded the darkness…indeed this was what a red-light district must be like K assumed. He looked around, taking a hesitant step forward gripping his so tight, the perspiration caused his hands to slide off the rubber textured weapon. Good thing, the gun was still slung about his neck with a strap otherwise hope would be gone for President Triumph would stand triumphant with the gates of paradise closed for all eternity. He wondered where Johnny American could be hiding and shook his head vigorously, the rattling of potential answers slushed around until there was a hiss and a wild growl. The glasses hits the ground as a soft cuddly wind hit K’s face. The lens were broken leaking what looked like liquid onto the trash littered illuminated blood colored sidewalk. The gray scraggly furred cat with wide insane eyes looked up at him telepathically projecting images turning into words he could read in his mind and hear upon this tangible realm of existence. “K son of god you are not but more…soon to learn right meow.” The cat scurried away into a dark corner which could have been a black hole, but black holes only existed in outer space didn’t they and weren’t those just western capitalistic fictions to prevent the Age of Gold from being ushered in? A bloated calico rose from a garbage can, a lid on his head. “Fire and fury beckons your land, your people and yourself K. Throw your gun away. Save yourself. You are messiah of the pure, your true father awaits.” “My true father? Who are you? How do you know all of this, living in garbage?” “I am Booster and it is called a garbage can not a garbage cannot.” Booster sunk back down into the filthy container. “It’s okay, K you won’t face him alone. I am here.” K looked down upon a cylinder-shaped white cat with one eye. He looked young but was scarred with alley cat battles. There was a bald patch on the left side of his body, a jagged scar like a lightning bolt ran along the length of it. The cat noticed K gazing at it. “A human thought it would be fun to lure me with tuna when I was but an innocent kitten yet seeded with feral savagery. He ran piece of broken american cola bottle across me, I tore his throat out with fangs and teeth. He died and I bled dying next to him and in my dying days as we were left unattended to by the rest of our kind I saw what was to transpire for the great good and lived to make my life sacred which was to be here with you now.” “What is your name, brave one?” “I am nameless, like every great sacrifice never to be known, hidden from the world and knowing eyes.” “May, I call you Brave One?” “You may call me whatever you may wish, I stand ready to do battle with you. The world of forever dreams and prosperity lies before us and to endure we must be pure.” “I see.” “You do not but to be blind is to really see…when the sky ignites, look to darkness.” K did not understood, nor would he fully understand. The Son of God trembled and pissed himself as a hulking form came from the other end of the alley way. Brave One moved aside to avoid the wetness secreted from K and stood ready to pounce with a low growl. Like an American horror movie, the massive steroid infused figure came barreling toward them. Johnny American, shirtless with eight-pack abs and muscles looking like they were about to tear open his skin, American flag painted across his face with a blond crew cut and camouflage pants, he had no weapons but a machete. A silver tank embedded in his chest with various tubes pumping a queer vile chemical concoction which seemed to make him a flesh-machine of rage and manic muscle, getting larger and angrier as he charged forward. “This is so unfair! I’m just a political science major! Call the President! Send in Space-force!” Johnny screamed aimlessly swinging the machete. K raised his gun and pulled the trigger…. nothing happened. Nameless as he was truly known, rolled his feline eyes and leapt at Johnny American who instantly grabbed him and began to squeeze. “Brave One!” Nameless formerly known as Brave One turned to K as his body was crushed, his sight-orbs popping out from his skull. “A spear to the side, a loss of an eye for true insight. My life is no loss but sacred K. Look away dear hearted friend to the sky and see fire and fury toward a better tomorrow.” K did as he was told. The lights went out. Sirens went off, blocking whatever death rattle emanated from Brave One from invading K’s living audio receptors. Cats did not lie. He knew this to be true. Most especially when in dreams. There was a whistle and the sky was literally aflame. Swirling and coming down toward the ground, melting structures in an eerie silence, like a fictional depiction the world as it was meant to be on the soundstage of reality which didn’t seem all that stable to K despite what he had been told over the years. “The bastards did it! They really did! Without rescuing us! We show them giants walked the Earth and no one cared!” K watched as Johnny American wept and plunged the machete into his stomach toppling over the corpse of Brave One as he would eternally be known instead of Nameless as he would have preferred but K would decree otherwise. No one should be nameless…He purposefully thought for the first time. The calico garbage can cat knocked the can over spilling contents of dirty diapers and remnants of pasted canned meals over as he rushed past K. “No time to gawk K, into darkness we must go.” The ground snapped, crackled, and popped beneath K’s feet as the fire got closer. He followed the cat into a black oval located in the corner as flames engulfed everything above, below and beyond what could be void of everlasting non-existence. K was where he belonged. He sat on a golden throne in a round room of violet and gold. A stack of pies; cream pies with fish parts stuck out of them, tails, fins, eyes, and complete open faces. Towers of pies accompanied by marble columns and millions of cats sat before him. “Welcome home son.” K looked up to see Chamchi, like the miniature tiger he was so unlike a tuna, curled on his own golden throne, levitating before him with a sly grin and a pie sitting next to his tail. This is pure. K thought purposefully for the second time in his existence. “Yes, it is.” Chamchi replied aloud. “Let the purrification begin right…Meeoow!” He flicked his tail, the pie flew from his seat and smacked K right in the face…tuna and cream, how divine. Cats and human threw pies and chased each other every which way in a slip sliding cacophony of bizarre laughter… K woke up. He was dreaming of cats again. Searching for something pure. He had his boots on. Naked with dried semen on his stomach. His wife’s robotic parts strewn all over canopy bed. Circuitry and wire protruded from her cheeks and forehead. Chamchi walked up to him and stretched with an epic yawn. “Sometimes you have to hurt the one you love, K.” K awoke… He dreamed of cats…again… Nude except for boots… He wanted to be pure.
Piece from Santiago Burdon
Women Always Leave Me
She was putting on her jacket getting ready to slip out.
“Where did I put my God damn keys?” She hollers.
I was sure her question was rhetorical so I didn’t answer fearing I might receive a response marinated in anger. I sat on the couch and continued watching the television. Next I could hear her throwing shit about the kitchen shouting profanities, pounding on the countertop, accompanied by intermittent groans of frustration.
” Have you seen my keys? I could’ve sworn I just had them?”
Her voice resonating through the apartment.
She suddenly appears like magic standing in front of me blocking my view of the television.
” Are you gonna answer me? What’s your fucking problem?”
Now it’s obvious the question was intended for me to respond.
” No love I haven’t seen them. Would you like me to help you look?” I say in a sympathetic tone.
” If it wouldn’t be too much of a chore.”
As I get up to assist in the search, she slaps the TV off button to be sure I wouldn’t have any distractions. The result of her action produces a familiar jingle of keys as they drop out of her hand onto the floor.
” I believe I’ve solved the mystery of where your keys are. They’ve been in your hand the entire time.” I say while laughing. ” I’ve done the same thing more than once. It’s your mind playing a trick on you. Letting you know that you’re only one step away from insanity.”
” It’s not funny. So you’re saying I suffer from some type of mental deficiency ?”
” No that’s not what I meant. All I was trying to do…” She interrupts.
” I’m sorry. Just experiencing one of those days when everything is off-kilter. No, don’t you dare ask if I’m on my period.”
“When have I ever acted in such an insensitive manner? You talk to me as though I’m some college frat boy. A dim witted shit for brains jock with the manners of an inbred hillbilly. What have I done or most likely not have done to cause you to treat me with such contempt?”
“Santiago I need to know what we’re doing? Where are we going? There’s no plans for our future. It’s the same routine over and over. It’s no fun anymore. Are you going to be a drug crazed addict your entire life? Are we going to stay together? Do you love me?”
” Jesus Christ Jess which question do you want me to not have an answer for first? Come here sit-down. Let’s talk about this and see if we can possibly come up with a solution to your questions.”
” Oh no you don’t! You’re not going to pull that shit on me! I know exactly what you’re doing you silver tongued con-man. I’m savvy to your used car salesman pitch. I’ve witnessed you convince someone you owed money into not only feeling guilty for them asking for you to pay up but they end up lending you more.”
She had me pegged. I was going to sweet talk her into a state of tranquility knowing she’d become bored and uninterested in continuing the conversation.
” Jessica why the hell are you still here with me if you’re so displeased by our current arrangement? You act as though it’s a deplorable lifestyle and I’m the cause for your every touch or sadness. There aren’t any bars or chains restraining you from leaving. You’re not a hostage or prisoner being kept against your will. You can’t just bushwhack me with questions expecting me to have answers for the future? I’m not a fucking Psychic. If you’re unhappy with me and the way things are put your ass on the tracks, leave, take the Midnight Train back to Georgia and your ex-husband. There won’t be any hard feelings or harsh remarks.”
” But Santi I love you. Why can’t we live a normal life and be happy, grow old together? We could travel through Mexico, Central and South America like you promised. Your addiction is out of control and harder for us to afford. I’m not peddling my ass on the street anymore and I want you to get clean. Is that too much to hope for?”
” The only normal I’m aware of is in Illinois, no way I’m going back there. I’m not saying our lifestyle is typical behavior but you knew the circumstances before getting involved. I’m correct?”
” I know Santi, I never thought I’d feel the way I do for you. You’re so smart, you’re funny and make me laugh. You have so much potential it hurts me to see you wasting it. And you’re easy on the eyes, good looking most of the time.”
” Telling someone they have potential is just another way of saying you’re not as dumb as you look. I don’t know what you want from me, what you want me to do! I’m not going into another Rehab program. Rehab is for quitters and I’m no quitter!”
” How can you joke at a time like this?”
” Ya well I’ve got a question. Why do you have all those keys? Did you buy a car? Get a job as a maintenance woman or a Real Estate Agent? Where are you heading off this early in the morning?”
” Early in the morning? It’s five in the afternoon dumbass and I’ve been working at Jeff’s Pub for the last five days. I told you I quit being a prostitute. I have the keys because I open and close the bar sometimes. Oh ya, Jeff doesn’t want you to come in when I’m working. You forgot I was working there didn’t you? Perfect example of your apathy concerning our relationship.”
” I didn’t forget I’m just unable to recall.”
” Ya I’m sure. I’ve gotta go babe. Don’t go pawning the Television for dope! I bought it so we could watch movies together. And well so do you?”
” Do I what?”
” Do you love me?”
” Did you misplace your keys again? This all started because you couldn’t find your keys. Let’s not go through this again. Yes I love you.”
She gives me a long wet kiss goodbye and sashays out the door.
I entered a Drug Rehabilitation program two days later. Jessica came to visit on Wednesdays and Sundays, but after a month she didn’t come to visit any longer. I never heard from or saw Jessica again. Jeff told me she took off with the apartment manager Harry, Larry, Terry or whatever the fuck his name was. Women always leave me.

Short story from Doug Hawley
The Final Frontier
Sally got home from her nature guide conference after being gone for a week. She was surprised to see an envelope with her name on it in Duke’s handwriting propped up on the phone. He used to send her little love notes, but with his recent problems, he had dropped the habit. Could he finally have some good news?
“Sally, there is no way to make this easy. I’ll be dead when you get this.”
After the first line, Sally sat down and started to cry. It was five minutes before she could resume reading while still sniffling.
“I didn’t tell you how painful and humiliating the first dialysis was. You may think that I had some hope of getting a kidney transplant. I was able to keep other health problems from you that ensured that I wouldn’t be around long. I also have liver cancer. No idea why I bothered with dialysis, I won’t be around long, so why keep hurting when the end is near?”
“You were too good to tell me ‘I told you so’, but I certainly deserved it. Every time you tried to keep me from smoking, drinking and overeating, I fought you. The hacking and coughing, the blood in the urine, there was nothing that I wouldn’t ignore. It is all on me.”
“Besides trying to protect me from myself, you were so good to me in so many ways. When the DMV wanted to pull my driver’s license, you went to bat for me to keep my license. When I wanted to invest half of our money in my crazy brother-in-law’s get rich scheme, you talked me out of it. You saved me from having the crap beat out of me by the neighbor that hated the loud music I played in the backyard. Eddie forgave a lot for your scrumptious apple pie.”
“If you knew how dire my situation was, you probably would have wanted a few more weeks together, but you know what a whining baby I am. I would have been miserable, and I would have made your life miserable. That is why I’ve been on my best behavior the last few weeks. No whining about your hair or the time you spend on the phone. Finally, I’m acting as I should have all the time that we have been married, so I hope that I get a few points.”
“You shouldn’t have to deal with the grim details. I will take a bus out to the Gorge and get off somewhere, and then climb up, avoiding trails as much as possible. Do you remember I wondered if there was any place in Oregon no one had ever set foot? I hope to find such a place where I’ll never be found. I was able to get enough fentanyl to kill me. Remember how much better I felt at emergency when I got it in the IV? I hope that and the brandy I’m taking will get me a feel-good passage to oblivion.”
“I loved you since we met. You deserved better than me.”
Appears in Soft Cartel
Art from Mark Young





Golden Giant by Hongri Yuan, translated by Yuanbing Zhang

Golden Paradise
By Chinese Poet Hongri Yuan
Translated by Yuanbing Zhang
Gold birds, ah!
Flew above my head
A golden ribbon
Spreading out to me from the sky
I saw the golden mountains
Smiling at me in the distance
The layers of airy pavilions and pagodas
Standing in the purple-red clouds
The gardens in the sky, ah!
The exquisite pagodas
The bridge of golds and gems ah!
Arched across the vast expanse of the Milky Way
I saw a giant
Waving to me in the sky
Stood on the propitious clouds
Shining millions of rays
The huge figure ah!
Like a high mountain
The golden dragons!
Fluttering around him
A round of sun, ah!
Shining above his head
The golden robe, ah!
Burning in the halos
I saw his magical eyes
And couldn’t help thinking of the remote past
Ah,hundreds of millions of centuries ago
We once got together happily
You were both my great teacher
And also my close companion
We created together
The countless heavenly paradise
Your golden smile, ah
Made my heart beat lightly
The glistening tears ah!
Lingered in my eyes
Your holy hands of giant, ah!
Hold tightly with me
You dressed me a golden robe
Which was embroidered with dragons and phoenixes
The words of gold, ah!
Flew in your breast
And turned into the mysterious light
Shining in your eyes
I understood your gleamy words
And my heart laughed brilliantly
A round huge sun
Burning over my head
You opened the city gates of gold for me
And watched me crossing the huge garden
A lofty palace
Shone in front of my eyes
In the transparent white jade railings
Carved with the beautiful patterns
The steps made of the rubies
Reflected the smiling face of the sky
The huge column of gold, ah!
Carved with the wonderful flowers
The layers of eaves were hight above the sky
Like the golden birds spreading in the clouds
A holy old man
Stood majestically in front of the palace;
his body was as transparent as the flame
Sending out the resplendent red light
Your bright eyes, ah!
Contained the purple-gold flames
There are golden dragons
Circling around the golden staff in hands
Your high forehead, ah!
Rose like the mountains
The layers of purple-gold flames, ah!
Wreathing around your body
The golden lightnings, ah!
Shining in your bright eyes
I saw the rounds of sun
Burning in your head
You opened the door to the palace
And took me into it
A huge palace
Smiling at me in the sky
I saw the books of gold
Arranged in walls of the palace
The lines of gold words, ah!
Shining the charmingly light
The holy old man, ah!
Let me sit in the palace
To read the books of gold
And drink the good wine of wisdom
He raised the golden staff in his hands
Sent out the golden lights
The huge books of gold
Flew into my chest
The lights were shining before me
And I saw another sight
The countless gold giants
Flying lightly in the sky
The multi-coloured transparent sky
Many airy pavilions and pagodas
And the happy girls
Dancing and singing in the sky,
A young giant
Hold up the sun
In a transparent mountain top
Sending out the bottomless light
An old man with gray hair
Stepped on an auspicious cloud
And stood stilly in the sky
Smiling at the giant
A huge golden mountain
Which was transparent and gleamy in flames
Turned into a palace
And a exquisite gold pagoda
The young boys and girls
Riding with the colorful husbands and wives
Shed the multi-colouredflowers
And which turned into the Gardens
I heard an intoxicating tweet
A huge phoenix
Carried a roll of golden books
Flying towards me from the clouds
The lines of mysterious words
Like the stars
Arranged into the singular figures
Shining before my eyes
A huge white crane
Turned into a young girl
who opened a treasure casket
While flashing a golden sword
A round piece of jade
Carved with the dragon designs
And there were the lines of words
Flashed the dazzling light
An old man with gray hair
Rode a kylin
Which flew leisurely in the sky
Carried a sword on his back
A huge sun
With a golden palace in the central of it,
revealed a young Prince
Reading the golden books in the palace
A huge mirror
Flashed in front of my eyes
A bolt of lightening
Awakened me in my dreams
I went back to the palace again
The magical old man
Still held the golden staff
And stood in front of my eyes
The golden books, ah!
Still shining on the walls
But the words of gold, ah!
Singing exactly in my chest
The huge golden statue, ah!
Flashed the dazzling light
The holy old man, ah!
The kindly smile appeared on his face
The layers of purple-gold flames, ah!
Surround me all around
The stars with much light, ah!
Shining in my body
I saw a huge golden crown
That few out of the old man’s hand
And turned into a sun ah!
Which embedded in my forehead
Suddenly a flash of lightning, ah!
Went into my eyes
I saw a gold pagoda, ah!
Shining in the sky
A golden giant
Stood with smiles in front of the pagoda
A gold garden
Embraced the golden pagoda
The holy giant
Took me out of the palace
A white crane was called in
And flew to the sky with me
It was like a white light ah!
I came to the pagoda in the twinkling of an eye
The huge pagoda of gold, ah!
Was higher than the mountains on earth
It was more than ninety thousand floors
The height of each floor was ten thousand meters
It was like a universe
Containing the countless worlds
The countless suns, ah!
Shining on the floors of pagoda
The multicoloured stars, ah!
Constituted these wonderful designs
The countless dragons, ah!
Flying around the huge pagoda
The lines of wods of the stars
Shining in the transparent walls of gold
The golden giant, ah!
Wore the diamond armor
Smiled at me briefly
And opened the door of the pagoda for me
On the huge door carved with gold
Mysterious patterns were convex and concave
Like the countless stars, ah!
Spinning in the golden space
A golden palace, ah!
Were full of wonderful giant flowers;
The huge gold tripods
Burned in the raging flames
The giants were sitting
On the purple-gold pavilions
They smild at me joyfully
Like the long time parting families
The golden winding stairs
Coiled round the columns of the palace
Like the huge golden dragons
Flying into the sky with their head held high
I saw a huge ball
Which was in the middle of the palace
Like a clear and transparent crystal
Rotating the golden pictures
There seemed to be countless worlds
Fashing leisurely in the crystal
The golden paradises
Made my eyes drunken
The wonderful bells
Suddenly sounded in my ears
The giants that were sitting
Sang the thundering songs
The songs were like the golden lightning
Shining in my body from all quarters
My heart was empty suddenly
And saw the things of billions of years ago
Originally I myself builted
The huge pagoda of gold
The lines of stars on the golden wall
Just were the poems that I had written
The smiling giants ah!
All of them were my former partner
The huge crystal balls ah!
Were a golden universe
The golden pagoda with more than ninety thousand floors, ah!
Contain the countless the times and spaces
Like a golden staircase of time ah!
Linking up with the countless heavens
Into the stars that had been turned by time ah!
It’s the sacred words
Each of the golden poems
Created a paradise
The huge golden tripods ah!
Burning the flame of time
Smelted out the countless stars
Forming the universes
The countless giants were sitting
On the transparent pagoda of gold
The light of their songs
Turned into the rounds of sun
I saw the crystal sky, ah!
Rotating outside the golden pagoda
There seemed to be countless golden pagoda
Shining in the sky
I seemed not to exist
And turned into the boundless light
The countless huge pagodas of gold
were just in my luminous chest
The countless giants who were sitting up
Smiled at me on the golden pagoda;
Their dazzling smils, ah!
Flashed the golden eternity.
3.22.1998
Bio:
Yuan Hongri (b. 1962) is a Chinese mystic poet and philosopher. His works has been widely published in journals and magazines internationally in UK, USA, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria. He has authored a number long poems including Platinum City, The City of Gold, Golden Paradise and Golden Giant. The theme of his works is the exploration of human prehistoric and future civilization.
Yuanbing Zhang (b. 1974), who is a Chinese poet and translator, works in a Middle School, Yanzhou District , Jining City, Shandong Province, China. He can be contacted through his email- 3112362909@qq.com.

黄金乐园
远红日
黄金的鸟儿啊
在我头上翻飞
一条黄金的飘带
从空中向我展开
我看到一座座金山
在远方向我微笑
一层层的亭台楼阁
矗立在紫红的云间
一座座空中的花园啊
一座座玲玲的金塔
黄金和宝石的桥梁啊
横跨 辽阔的天河
我看到一位巨人
在空中向我招手
站立在祥云之上
闪耀出万丈光芒
巨大的身材啊
像一座高山
一条条金龙啊
在身边飘飘
一轮太阳啊
在头上闪耀
金色的长袍啊
在光环中燃烧
我看到他那神奇的眸子
不由想起久远的过去
在亿万个世纪之前啊
我们曾在一起欢聚
你是我伟大的师长啊
也是我亲密的伴侣
我们一起创建了
无数座天上的乐园
你那黄金的微笑啊
让我怦然心跳
晶莹的泪水啊
在我眼中萦绕
你那神圣的巨手啊
和我紧紧相握
你为我披上了一件
绣着龙凤的金袍
黄金的词语啊
在你胸中飘飞
化成了玄妙的光芒
在你眼中闪放
我听懂了你那光芒的词语
心中灿然欢笑
一轮巨大的太阳
在我头顶上燃烧
你为我打开了黄金的城门
目送我穿过巨大的花园
一座巍峨的金殿
闪耀在我的眼前
透明的白玉栏杆啊
雕刻出美丽的图案
红宝石砌成的台阶
映照出天空的笑脸
巨大的黄金的圆柱啊
刻满了奇妙的花卉
一层层凌空的飞檐啊
如云中展翅的金鸟
一位神圣的老者
在殿前巍然站立
身体透明如火焰
发出灿烂的红光
你那明亮的眸子啊
含着紫金的火焰
手中的一根金杖啊
有金龙环绕盘旋
你那高高的额头啊
像山岳一般隆起
一层层紫金的火焰啊
在你周身缭绕
一道道金色的闪电啊
在你的明眸中闪耀
我看到一轮轮太阳
在你的头颅里燃烧
你打开金殿的大门
带我向殿内走去
一座巨大的金殿
高高地向我微笑
我看到一部部金书啊
在金殿的四壁内排列
一行行黄金的词语啊
闪耀迷人的光芒
那位神圣的老者啊
让我在殿内端坐
阅读那一部部金书
畅饮智慧的琼浆
他举起手中的金杖啊
发出一道道金光
那一部部巨大的金书
飞入了我的胸膛
我眼前光芒闪耀
看到了另一幅景象
一个个黄金巨人
在天空飘飘飞翔
五彩透明的天空
一座座亭台楼阁
一个个欢乐的少女
在空中起舞歌唱
一个年轻的巨人
手托一轮太阳
在一座透明的山巅
发出万丈的光芒
一位白发的老者
脚踩一朵祥云
在空中静静站立
向着巨人微笑
一座巨大的金山
在火焰中透明闪光
化成了一座金殿
和一座玲珑的金塔
一个个少男少女
跨着七彩的鸾凤
洒下了缤纷的花朵
化成了一座座花园
我听到了一声醉人的鸣叫
一只巨大的凤凰
衔着一卷金书
从云中向我飞来
一行行玄妙的词语
像一颗颗星辰
排列成奇特的图形
在我眼前闪耀
一只巨大的白鹤
化成了一位少女
打开了一只宝匣
闪现出一把金剑
一块圆形的玉器
镌刻出龙的花纹
还有一行行词语
闪出耀眼的光芒
一位白发的老者
跨着一匹麒麟
在空中悠悠走过
背上一把宝剑
一轮巨大的太阳
中央一座金殿
一位少年的王子
在殿内阅读金书
一面巨大的镜子
在我眼前闪过
一道闪电
把我从梦中唤醒
我又回到了那座金殿
那位神奇的老人
依然手持金杖
站在我的眼前
那一部部金书啊
依然在四壁闪耀
可是那黄金的词语啊
就在我胸中歌唱
那座巨大的金像啊
闪出耀眼的光芒
那位神圣的老者啊
面含亲切的微笑
一层层紫金的火焰啊
在我周身环绕
一颗颗光芒的星辰啊
在我的身体内闪耀
我看到了一只巨大的金冠
从老者的手中飞出
化成了一轮太阳啊
嵌入了我的前额
倏然一道闪电啊
化入了我的眼睛
我看到了一座金塔啊
在天空闪耀光明
一位黄金的巨人
在塔前微笑站立
一座黄金的花园
怀抱着这座金塔
那位神圣的巨人
带我走出了金殿
召来了一只白鹤
载我向天空飞去
仿佛是一道白光啊
我转眼来到了塔前
这座黄金的巨塔啊
比人间的山岳还高
大约有九万多层啊
每一层高达万米
仿佛是一座宇宙啊
包含了无数个天地
无数颗太阳啊
在一层层塔上闪耀
五光十色的星辰啊
构成了奇妙的图案
无数只龙凤啊
环绕着巨塔飞翔
一行行星辰的词语啊
在透明的金壁上闪耀
那位黄金的巨人啊
身披钻石的铠甲
向我微微一笑啊
为我打开了塔门
黄金雕刻的巨门啊
凸凹着玄妙的图形
仿佛无数个星辰啊
旋转在金色的太空
一座黄金的殿堂啊
开满了奇妙的巨葩
一座座巨大的金鼎
燃烧着熊熊的火焰
一座座紫金的楼阁啊
端坐着一个个巨人
向我欢喜地微笑啊
仿佛是久别的亲人
一座座黄金的旋梯
盘绕着殿堂的圆柱
像一条条巨大的金龙
昂首向天空飞去
我看到一个巨球
座落在殿堂中央
像清澈透明的水晶
旋转着金色的画图
仿佛有无数个世界
在水晶内悠悠闪现
一个个黄金的乐园
迷醉了我的双眼
一阵阵奇妙的钟声
在耳边倏然响起
那些端坐的巨人
唱起雷鸣般的歌声
这歌声如金色闪电
从八方向我照耀
我心中顿然空明
看到了亿万年前
这座黄金的巨塔啊
原是我亲手建成
那金壁上的一行行星辰
是我写下的诗篇
这一个个微笑的巨人啊
都是我当年的伙伴
那一颗巨大的水晶球啊
是一个金色的宇宙
这九万多层的金塔啊
包容无数的时空
像一条时光的金梯啊
通达无数个天堂
时间化成的星辰啊
是一个个神圣的词语
每一部黄金的诗篇
创造出一座乐园
那一座座巨大的金鼎啊
燃烧着时间的圣火
熔炼出无数颗星辰
构成一个个宇宙
这座透明的金塔啊
端坐着无数个巨人
他们的歌声的光芒
化成了一轮轮太阳
我看到了水晶的天空啊
在金塔外旋转
仿佛有无数座金塔
在天空中熠熠闪耀
我仿佛不在存在啊
化成了无际的光明
那无数座黄金的巨塔
就在我光明的胸中
那无数个端坐的巨人啊
在金塔上向我微笑
他们那灿烂的笑容啊
闪耀出金色的永恒
1998.3.22北京
Poetry from Kevin Hibshman
Pain is Perception
Does everyone have a measured quotient for the amount of suffering to be experienced in a given lifetime?
Is Pain a language encoded in our DNA so that it may relay information from the body to the mind ?
It is the sharp recognition of danger issued as a command so that the body itself may attempt to survive situations that would render one harm.
Pain is personal and comes in a myriad of levels and a host of different reactions.
I once thought of pain as something like a litmus test for one’s character,
Does the response merit the condition?
Will we cower and crumble or laugh in its face?
Others may judge us by our unfettered, immediate coping mechanisms when we are forced to put them on public display.
I see it in the milky glaze of your pleading eyes begging the question: “When does it end?”
Pain serves a purpose in the human petri dish we find ourselves swimming in.
Pain sets the rules and it also defines the limits in our all too frail human realm.
A reality we have subconsciously agreed upon that has now become much more than we can tolerate.
Lonesome Deity
Have I so quickly fallen from the fickle memory of man?
How soon temples crumble, stone erodes, yet alone I stand with the power to crush lives, to inspire madness or delight as I turn to face the unfathomable burden of responsibility that remains solely and sorely mine.
Poetry from Damion Hamilton
What's Going On? Here come thoughts feelings and impressions Everything you wanted is somewhere near I pick up the phone Check the info Check the world Alot is still there You dream of women, podiums Children You put more bricks in front of your day People are smarter than you and you are glad Feels strange to be someone to look up to Do you remember your bottom? When you were twenty and knew even less than now? I picture humans in white coats and laboratories playing with white mice They are smarter than me and should be I wanna know where the best minds go on their Instagram vacations? Some write that Nikola Tesla lived a life of virginity What is mind glamorous about that? There is plenty of mind in your life Somethings have to go I lay My Head Besides my body I had tired of it The music that came from it’s Speakers were too loud And I listened for too long Other people’s voices in young days Or the call of things in the future I felt my eyes and nostrils constantly. Breath in and Breath out Blinking into obscurity My body didn’t need that head thing Making of stories and creating words which make you suffer Now headless. The lungs and heart do the the work Breathing and beating. No anxiety and sorrow My former head spoke to me At a distance pick this thing back up and experience life boy but, you were making me crazy my friend Why should I unite with you? without me you cant express the world I liked you a lot of times head but my depression, the anxiety, you gave my friend seem to burn the bones and blood of this body why should I put you back on my head? What’s Happening Nothing Just trying to survive Ya knowing hating things Loving things Breathing trying not think Too much Thinking too much You can’t really help this Because you have grown older And the times escapes from you like thin papery thoughts Oh you wanna get married Oh you want a sweeter occupation And sometimes you want nothing at all And what should you do when you feel this way? Nothing Sometimes you have such a sloppy heart. Nothing can or will love you Till completion. Casino Frogs I’ve never seen one before Coming here Frogs they are so small Like little bugs or tiny mice They are so sluggish too They line up at the casino entrance. I don’t know why they do this? With the woods and big river around They are easily squashed along the walkways. I think I’ve probably killed a few while taking a long walk to the car. Most of the time, they hop out the way. These little things Little things that move so slowly Without a scream when crushed. So tiny, but not as tiny as ants And so easily removed from my conscience How easily they hop in And easily they hop Out of the world.