letter to dear piggies - a complaint and a confession

dear piggies,

i thought we are friends, arent we? perhaps its not me that youre targeting at, but what youve been doing is affecting me as much the 97/98 econ tsunami was affecting hk - greatly, terribly, disatrously. two days ago i was not really paying too much attention to you. you know, you are not as close as a relative to us as my beloved atypical pneumonia was, anyway, we had the isolation to-dai (somehow read like to-die) area, we had our former mrs CE in her hilarious astronaut outfit, we had the so called artists singing we shall overcome to console souls and faces behind the thin blue or M96 (was it M96?) masks, we had selfless medical crews taking care of patients who coughed and sneezed constantly. the most vivid picture of mine about the sars year, however, is rather personal: i remember well my standing on the right, dear oldie on the bed, the mask veiled all my tears and nose water. i know he heard what i meant to say.

i have never looked down upon you as many people do. i never stereotype you as being low, dumb or lazy or whatever the negative label tag. jeez! piggie, or perhaps youre just like any of us the divine superb human beings? are you a victim not a culprit of the disease? so i understand the importance of staying healthy. never catch a bug a virus and let it mutate or transform. the influenza is now like uncontrollable. people say its more destructive than sars. its a real epidemic. places im going to are exactly the places where the virus has been found: UK, SPAIN, US (and i thought its spreading southward and eastward to france and italy...). ay. still not sure if the tour will actually be cancelled. and i have already paid for the hostels and the flight. woe is me. please, piggie and virus, stay clear from these places, stay clear form planet earth. stay clear from the universe. well, please, arrogant human beings, live simple and stop overusing drugs and chemicals, our arrogant manner and our abusive behaviour have ultimately led to the rise of super bugs and virus. civilisation refers not only to an open mind, also an appropriate modest attitude to our mother nature. be respectful! human beings are no where higher than animals. we belong to the fixth not the sixth kingdom. oh - i end my confession.

humbly,
prosey

The Great Chinese Language

Have been reading "Postcolonial Affairs of Food and The Heart" written by Leung Ping-Kwan.
Well, it's a chinese book.

Great book.

so great that while reading it i feel like a Chinese illiterate.

after entering the english department i thought i had discovered the new world of english

the immensity of literature has made me wow a lot

and i thought what if i had taken english literature in high school?

and since it was not open, what if i had taken chinese literature back then?

would i have done well?

but friends havetold me that chinese lit is all about memorisation.

so, probably no?

anyway

reading this book is an even more intriguing experience

the context im more familiar with

the settings, the characters are right here in my city

cant help regarding these people as real characters

cant help regarding their experiences as real incidents

cant help fantasizing myself taking part in their fascinating life experiences

the words are difficult to understand, however

i still understand the sentence the atmosphere the mood

explication without literal understanding

and it's only possible when its chinese, not english

well. let me reproduce a section here and youll see how great this book is:

pervert's invitation

in two consecutive days
have i been robbed
and i hated this

ay the door
my hinge painfully mourned
i have already spelt my reluctance to welcome this guest
mr. burglar
rendered his wife my loathed mrs. burglar

it's like as if it's only your house and the house of you alone
do you live alone loner?
it's like you think that we like the intruder too much that we would spill mouthful of chewed rice to welcome him
is he a porridge hater like you?
right i have the boarding school kid mindset i hate my dormmate bring in stranger
stranger to me
they make out on their bed and want my mouth shut

i am bored out i am fed up
could not raise my dumb head to salute your general the colonel
lids too heavy me too dumb
head rebellious ego too egotistic
i just wanted to shit at that splitsecond my door being broke open
my gut rumbled
my cord resonanted with you not
where was my stinky toilet bowl?
the thing i could put a head in.

dont take it personal, she says
it's not about his being a jerk a nerd a pervert
not a rapist
not a burglar
mere a broker
and you make a good couple
where is my toilet bowl
brits, roll back to your isles
brat, zip you cursed lips chop thy tongue

Obsessive decoding

deity
kills
mao
from anti-
rustic
land

you say "i
am
from
uk
"

lol - what a game, what a fuss, what a siren

jeez
where is
yuan
bo-som

Tinah! im becoming obsessed
cannot read

i spoke to you today

featherbaby

delicate and exquisite
it flows in the air
light and white
reposes and suspends in mid heaven

whereas cotton milk condenses
feathery untouchable
rather intangible
unbreakable
it mends when birds fly brutally through

not quite a tunnel
more like a bleached ocean
if not a grey see
a pool of sewage
he pukes

as time reversing
hairs antisilverise

rise
furiously
rise
weightlessly
above the steamer
rise
embedded
streamily
upwards

feather in my dream
feather is my fantasy
further beyond it gleams

glitter not
more down to earth
more readily be compre'd

April 4, 2009
i see also incense burning
rest in peace