Shih-Fang Wang

When Ash Falls

In the quiet prayer room

She lights up a long incense stick

Piously places it to the ceramic burner

On the altar table 

Then starts to pray

Her daily ritual in memory of him

The incense smoke slowly ascends

Swings and sways

Higher and thinner

Seemly his shadow in mist

Mysterious and wandering

The nostalgic fragrance of 

The sandalwood stick is

Permeating and calming

Under the spell

She dozes off with a hand

Still holding the chanting book

Time is transiently tugged away

The world is gently budged aside

In the dream

She rejoices over the reunion with him 

Only the glowing ember is 

Still in line with time

Slowly it descends down the stick 

Atop ash grows taller

Resisted to leave, it remains erect

Suddenly, its fluffiness yields to gravity

When ash falls

It makes no sound

As he turns to dust

Deceiving Fall

 

If fall is your favorite season 

And the last one was

Unfortunately, your last

It is not so bad

You won’t miss this fall

Since it is a deceiving one

Autumn is here to show off its colors

But the golden red 

Turns into sanguineous scarlet

The bright yellow now

Looks more like ailing jaundice

And the withering brown heralds

Falling of leaves along with 

Many lives in tow

The fall wind thwarts summer heat

But it also provokes a fearful chill 

For the bleak winter foreseeable

When autumn gust swirls up leaves to the air

They will be mixed with viruses,

Political lies, chicanery and 

Hundreds of thousands of 

Unduly defunct spirits

Rest in peace, you won’t miss this fall

Fall in Love

Love the myriad versatility of poems

Innumerous as the sands of the Ganges

Long or short, they all have their branded poises

Adventurous demure flamboyant unassuming

Hilarious serene mysterious enigmatic

They are all precious

Admire the authors of poems

They joggle words like magicians tossing stars

They sing intuitively of feelings

Dance impromptu of emotions 

Spirits free as birds

With genie’s power they layout rainbows

Bridging heart and heaven

Awed by the undertones between lines

Amazed at the silent songs embedded in ballads

Elated by déjà vu and serendipity encountered in verses

They are panacea

They are immortal

Fall in love with those poems

Praise the poets

Bio

Shih-Fang Wang:  After retirement from medical profession in 2016 I shifted gears and entered into the fascinating art world.  I enjoy writing and watercolor painting.  In Dr. Mira N. Mataric’s creative writing class I started to write poems.  Through expressing emotions, depicting humanity, exploring life and nature with poems I am able to gain more insight into my inner world.