Memories of Beijing

Hush the sunlight

in your swollen belly of mist,

dirty breath of car or furnace,

progress. You

are here now as you have been

in different incarnations

elsewhen

different sounds; (softer, yet no less harsh)

different smells; (stranger, yet no less bile)

You

have never really left

the Forbidden City of your heart

the realm you built

to your own grandeur

The northern center of the jade

polished realm

you were never real enough

for them to take you away.