Breathing Beijing

cigarette smoke sifts through a cellophane sky the ramshackle siheyuans gray-gabled and low slump in the yellow light of sunset / a one-cylinder thut-thut's by / a stray corgie tongue lolling and eyes heavy crouches in the shadow of a fruit crate / two aunties squat on their pillow chairs spill whispers like precious water they point at the blonde heads of the wai guo ren passing by and my how the smells dress nicely for the foreigners (a smock of roast duck and a knit cravat of pork baozi) and as night stumbles drunkenly into the lane / no one changes a thing there is no respite from the honking Hallelujah / the sun can't be seen in this city / so when it sets nothing stops click click and whir it keeps on chugging

here there are two lungs rasping on

exhaust pipes / but somewhere

within this ribcage of clouds

a scarlet sun is beating / somewhere

your scarlet face is looking up to kiss

the rain / somewhere in a place I

remember but am not sure exists

the sun is shining and we are

breathing good old oxygen

with clear lungs

somewhere is where I want to be

and it is on its way

the sun is shining on us

summ(w)er(e)