SPACE INCARNATION

Many would take it

as the midway station to heaven

nineteen hundred miles up

can heaven be far away?

Some would even think

that sixty three million years

is eternal enough

especially for those hopeless potbellied souls

knowing that it’s impossible for them to pass through

the tiny eye of a needle

here, God is not

the Final Judge

Of course there are details to be worked out

for instance, should there be racial segregation

like that in the old South Africa

so as to preserve the purity of the ashes?

or, as long as they can afford to pay

should even dogs and cats be allowed?

*A Houston space service company has a plan to send human ashes into space.  According to the plan, ten thousand human remains will orbit the earth at a distance of nineteen hundred miles for a minimum of sixty-three million years.

BEDTIME STORY

all attractive stories

are full of sufferings

when it comes to

they live happily ever after

we know that's the end of the story

what comes next is an endless chain of yawning

hurrying the white horses that carry the princess and the prince

to enter dreamland

before the eyelids

and the castle gate

are completely shut

NUCLEAR COMPETITION

the whole world

is holding its breath

at the starting line

the signal gun

raised high

is pointed at the black hole of the universe

while in its burning throat

an insuppressible cough

is waiting impatiently

to jump out

SPRING THUNDER

（1）

waking me up at midnight

it asks

self-righteously

isn't your heart too

restless and itching for action?

（2）

Waking me up

in the middle of the night

just to tell me

listen

my rumbling heart

———————

William Marr, a Chinese-American poet and artist, has published a total of 23 collections of poetry, including: Autumn Window (1995, 2nd ed. 1996), Between Heaven and Earth (2010), Chicago Serenade  (France, 2015), Cèzanne's Still Life and Other Poems (Italy, 2018), and Portrait and Other Poems (Italy, 2019).   His poetry has been translated into more than ten languages and is included in high school and college textbooks in Taiwan, China, England, and Germany.  A former president of the Illinois State Poetry Society. His personal website The Art World of William Marr (http://marrfei.org) displays some of his literary and artistic works.  He now lives in Chicago.