A Month Later

Two more friends have gone away
for a little over a month now
Dick Jesser and Bill Rodd
Life is like a game of tennis
at Lake Willoughby
Have a healthy day
in Saint J
I shall always remember you
as long as I'm still living
as long as I'm still thinking
writing a poetry like tonight
in the northeast kingdom of Vermont
We've gone through so many roads
come from far away towns
we don't even recall the names
These melodies echoing across the sky
The endless icy rain and the flimsy day
Wish you could be here
I can't wait to see you again, my freiends

B. John
Rocky Ridge Road
St. Johnsbury, Vermont

Barton, Vermont

Who can tell what might have been?
This question that kept ringing in my head
Like Robert Kennedy wrote once in his Profile
as my wife and I walked quietly into our old house
This eighty one Glover Road in Barton, Vermont
A few miles down from the Crystal Lake
which is now being watched by the giant wind turbines
The white power that has engulfed the Northeast kingdom
In Martha Pitts' over century year old Victorian
Who or what else can we proclaim?
The road seems longer now
and this coldest day in January
Yet, none seems to fade away so soon
The children singing, laughing,
riding their bicycles in the basement
as I wrote countless songs, poetry and prose
In order to keep my dream alive
Why?
for my people, who else?
Now I understood
The birds have flown away
The trouble is here to find
the roof is almost touched the sky
Byron?
The church bell...
This dependable old furnace
keeps on running
Looking to find the solution
The Bread and Puppets...
My brother in law
even Peter Shoeman is not to be found
What else can I say?
Tonight..in this house....this old house...
I shall paint it in my memory
Despite not knowing who
can tell what might have been

B. John
St. Johsnbury, VT
January 15, 2012
10:51pm

Happy New Year 2012

May the New Year 2012 brings you peace and justice
with happiness, good health and fortune

Rocky Ridge Road
St. J., VT 05819

Waiting

The second snow is finally here
another semester is almost gone
another group of students
will be faded away
like the first snow
Yet, another one
will soon be here
bringing a new sunrise
waiting for a new sunset
waiting for a new rainbow
hiding away in this pill hill
waiting for another chance
to claim an old fame
waiting....and waiting....
forever waiting....

B. John
St. Johnsbury, VT
December 13, 2011 @ 6:27pm

To live forever

When the sky is dark
the trees are naked
the birds are gone
the flowers no more
the deers walk slowly
behind my wife's shed
sneeking into her black lab's pen
taking his food without his permission
Tonight the moon is bright
the gentle wind comes through the basement window
Even the mices are gone
They have not been here for days
the sticky rice left for them
has not been touched
the furnace keeps on humming
like the birds...oh, the robins
In the Spring time
Just a few more seconds,
a few more hours,
a few more days,
a few more months,
and a few more darkness
Life will come alive again
As if all will have no end

B. John
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
December 1, 2011 @ 8:32pm

What can you do, a Harvard man?

What can you do, a Harvard man
Your life is only $138,696.26
It is across the river
Where the water current is high
and the sky is blue
Underneath this window pane
The fire that keeps on flaming
burning inside your soul
Nothing can stop it
But, you're a Harvard man
You can do it
They have trained you
to find a way
to seek for a day
to liberate this fire
to pay off this debt of yours
Go ahead you Harvard man
See if you can come up with $138,696.26
to buy your soul, your life
and your happiness
to create much success
to discover a new life
to study the USMLEs
to do your residency program
no long will you be alarmed
of a starnger coming to your house
in the middle of the night
to invade your spirit
to take over your dignity
You can live happily
You can really be a Harvard man
you are today, yesterday and tomorrow
See what you can do?
To pay back some of the money
the Keybank paid for you
to become the first Kmhmu-Lao-American
medical doctor in the USA
See what you Harvard man can do?

B. John
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
December 1, 2011 @ 8:18pm

Another Thanksgiving

It seems so long ago
When I had my first thanksgiving
in my new country
in Hazleton, Pennsylvania
With David, his parents,
sisters, brothers and friends
The last Thursday of November in 1976
seems so long ago like a dream almost
When David brought me to the USA
Everyone was alive then
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, Brian, Martha and her family,
Cornelia, Mark and Sheila
Martha's husband, Albert;
her children, Ricky, Rosanne and Andrew
Martha had passed away before her children grew up
I, too, last saw them since 1983
Soon after Mr. Thompson passed away
We said, "Our father" together with David,
Sheila, her family and other family members in the hospital
Life goes on without any opportunity to plan
27 more thanksgivings
Today I celebrate my 28th
with my wife, two children and parents-in-law
In this winter wonder Vermont
How lucky I am to be here
To look back through this memory lane
Happy thanksgiving
Another thanksgiving
Thank you God...
Thank you for everything...
Happy another thanksgiving

St. Johnsbury, Vermont
11/24/2011 @ 7:29pm