SangWenhua

I am not a sun si,
If you want to be free,
I'll let you go no matter how happy,
Your sulkiness makes me,

Aimlessness can certainly be a badge,
It's nothing new for teens,
Not sure it's different from being Goth,
Or maybe in the Seattle grunge scene,

Then you grow out of it and chances are,
The root of your ennui,
Is a desire to have a goal to reach,
In lived reality,

Just like Lelush!
He wanted off TV,
Which led to fame and hopefully money,
You don't get what you want, but what you need.

One Belt, One Road

A belt keeps your pants up,
May constrict your bowels,
Black and wide looks nice with some slacks with stripes,
Strapping will produce howls,

A road will get you through some rough terrain,
Open up worlds once closed,
Military boots get farther on one,
So are owned by the country with the most,

From Xian to Venice and then back again,
Plus stops along the way,
The pages from colonization past,
May have something to say,

That I've not read,
P'haps enough time has passed,
The West had ample chance to make things right,
The more things change the more they hold on fast.

No One Should Burn

Two women set afire,
One Russian, one Chinese,
First the editor of Open Russia,
Who struck the match, no pleas,

Her home was searched, with daughter and husband,
Electronics taken,
Accused of no crime, but critical of,
The government of Vladimir Putin,

Plus a Douyin star in rural China,
Was doused in gasoline,
Then lit by her violent ex-husband,
While she was in mid-stream.

What does this mean?
The world's a nasty place,
No one should burn, even by accident,
Never for being of the human race.

In Other News

Elephants are dying,
From some unknown disease,
Hundreds lay face down, others walk addled,
Don't cross to humans, please,

The Amazon is burning down faster,
Than nature would allow,
Bolsonaro's just letting it happen,
Because the making money Trumps the how,

Putin will soon rule Russia forever,
Gay people will love that,
China is revoking democracy,
In Hong Kong, despite pacts.

It's not all bad,
Let me just search the news...
Because I have to post this Wath today,
Please, give me some time to get back to you.

China's Gambit

There's nothing China does,
Without ultimate ends,
This is no different for any country,
They all trick their cit'zens,

To thinking one way, least that's what they try,
But China propogates,
'Cause its structure seems so diff'rent from mine,
A specimen I can investigate.

Like its new commemoration today,
Aft' seventy-sev'n years,
Of the Nanjing massacre by Japan,
A country that it fears.

It makes you think,
'Spite what Pres Xi might say,
It's a gambit to get his people prepped,
For confrontation with Japan one day.

Hong Kong's Dilemma

Who'd've thought umbrellas,
Could overwhelm police?
Nine thousand protesters of China's ways,
Taking back Hong Kong streets!

China's agreed to have talks on T.V.,
Aired live for all to see,
With student leaders, 'bout the unfairness,
Of elections, two thousand, seventeen.

'It's not democracy,' the students say,
When candidates are seen,
As picked by a single-party gov'nment,
North of this 'free' country.

But China's set,
And will not change its mind,
It doesn't care about what the world thinks,
It thinks only of its Chinese inside.

Lands In Dispute

If you're in an airplane,
China's declaration,
You have to answer a couple questions,
Or risk annihilation.

If you're over the Diaoyu Islands,
An area they've named,
East China Sea Air Defense ID Zone,
So its state sovereignty is maintained.

But Japan also claims these islands theirs!
They call it Senkaku,
Both asked U.N.C.L.O.S for it,
In nineteen eighty-two.

What will happen?!
From war they both won't hide,
Over this gas-rich sea bed between them,
And symbol of nationalistic pride.

Who Has Time To Worry?

Have you seen the pictures?!
The smog's thick as pea soup,
In the Heilongjiang province town Harbin,
Poor Beijing's had a coup.

It's news like this that puts into perspective,
How fucked up the world is,
If there weren't genocide and famine,
All decent folk would be incredulous.

But a person has to choose his battles,
Well, many have no choice,
It is hard to decry the sky falling,
When the state took your voice,

Or killed your child,
Or foreclosed on your home,
Add human desire to make sense of life,
Most just want the news to leave them alone.

A Bio of al-Assad

Did you know that Assad,
Wasn't to be pres'dent,
'Til brother Bassel died in ninety-four,
In a car accident?

Pres. Bashar was an ophthalmologist!
That's a doctor of eyes,
But then he was fast-tracked through the army,
Took five years to make colonel, for this guy.

In two thousand he became president,
People hoped he'd reform,
It soon became clear he had no intent,
To dev'ate from the norm,

Now civil war,
Two-years old and growing,
With Russia and China firmly on side,
No hint of waning resolve is showing.