My father was one who best understood the shy verse of sawdust and steel.When he did speak, after aged bourbon by the charred pepper glow of campfire, his words would bring dryness to the dark, the way engine-oiled machine parts are ordered and arranged under the tongue. I listened. More than he knew. I saw how his words had shapes, how some of them circled through the air, […]
family
A Scene from Cumberland Bay
Before his sister could budge him out of the way,Mendon climbsdown the rabbit hole to a window in the stars where everything worth seeing is hidden inside a half-devoured pine cone. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher […]
When Film Took More Than Time
I found this pictureof myself when Iwas less than a year old-September 1981 – in my mother’s arms, wading near a beach on the American side of the St. Lawrence River.She held me by my pits with a smile good enough to getmy father’s attention. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in […]
Leaf Pile
Five months after you came into the world, you discovered the fawnbrown mystery of brittle leaves in December. Back when the winterswere late upon the earth. With your sister, you played in the pileof leaves like a small doll sinking intothe earth itself. Into a wormhole of foliage,and a cataclysm of autumn. Laughing atnothing but the act of […]
Putting My Son to Bed
There are moments so sacred that I can only share them in a poem. When I am reading tomy son in his rocking chair. Curious George and Sesame Street. Or when he begins to suck his wrist, that thing which sootheshim best. That’s when I know heis ready. Opening his arms into mine. I cradle him. He is getting too big to […]
Fathers and Sons: The Buddha and King Suddhodana
This Sunday will be Father’s Day in Hong Kong. Most young people, luckily, will get to enjoy the 18th with their old men. In the grand scheme of things it’s not uncommon for kids to lose their father (or both parents) earlier in life. In the end, we all are destined to be orphans. We […]
Who knows what else might come?
Ratnadevi ‘Ready’, called the egg when it was laid. ‘Now I’m ready!’ called the tadpole when it had hatched. ‘Now I’m completely ready! ‘ called the creature, animal when it had two legs. ‘Now, finally, I’m absolutely completely ready! ‘ called the creature when it had four legs and a long tail. ‘Who knows what […]
My Journey to Become a Monk
In Bangladesh, a short term monastic experience is highly regarded by every male Buddhist. Some join the monastic order permanently as a result, while others may give up the aspiration of monkhood to fulfill personal obligations. In 2003, after receiving permission from my parents, I entered into monastic life at the age of 15. It […]