And No One Came to Collect

Posted by Chuck Rose on Struggling to Paint


and no one came to collect


and no one came to collect
them on the day
of your departure –
these final
cigarette ends, and how
they once held
your flame


Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on her site Y's Bits on HEALTHY DOSES

There Are Habits That Grow

Photograph by Yi-Ching Lin


there are habits that grow


there are habits that grow
even more
familiar as i learn
to hold them –
habits that leave
holes inside of holes,
empty days inside
of empty months, habits
designed to squeeze
you out, to absorb
the predictable
sadness, habits
to carry my
childhood away

Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on her site Y's Bits on HEALTHY DOSES

Blood Donor

Drawing by Jana Botkin


blood donor


blood donor
.
no matter how many
times i give away my
blood, it does not
drain the melancholy
numb the heart
dilute the distance between
us, blood of your blood,
bone of your bone –

they are pinching
the tube, extracting
the needle, icing
the collection bag –

you are already
so cold, long buried
in dreams, i place
a hand over my
right arm, apply
pressure to the
wound, our hearts are
orchestrating beats


Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on Y-Bits on "Healthy Doses"

Mondays Through Fridays

mondays through fridays


mondays through fridays, unlock
the office, beeline to the
keyboard, CTRL+ALT+DELETE
my fingers extract the
password with no
recollection, my mind
is hanging up the coat,
putting the purse away


Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on Applehouse Poetry Workshop

Some Tie Strings

some tie strings


some tie strings
to the earthshaking
events in their
lives to bookmark
change. i drop
anchor on the
smallest gestures –

roofed rain

three fingers
near the rim
of a brown
teacup

a gentle insistence –

to find
my way back

Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on Y's Bits on HEALTHY DOSES

Even From This Far

Even From This Far


even from this far
back, you could see
the entire world spiraling
on the tip of her cigarette -
a sequined burden


Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on one of her site Y's Bits on HEALTHY DOSES

In the Hour Before Becoming

Painting by Walfrido Garcia


in the hour before becoming


in the hour before becoming
magical, you

disconnect all the alarms

tie a knot
into each straying breath

open your eyes

close your eyes

make a bold leap

and ring every telephone in every
dream four times

until one world rings
truer than the other


Yi-Ching Lin March 2010

Posted over on Y-Bits on "Healthy Doses"