Cry      Sometimes I wish I could cry Real tears 'Cause of some biological malfunction my eyes are dry so dry Cry For my mother, whom I just bought a leopard-print jacket in hope of cheering her up, who knelt on the pavement to pay respect to a Burmese high priest just the other day, whose man had just left her for some Amerasian my age...  Dear Mom! Cry For my aunt, whom I gave my drag wig when she stopped by around Christmas, whose photos taken as a sweet child, a beauty, a white-haired woman made me think how fast how so fast life could just pass you by, and at the end, at her end, I hope it won't be with the man who sweet-talked her into living with him but treated her less than she deserved...  Oh my aunt! Cry For my brother, whom I'd actually prefer not to see nor hear from, but still care, still love, maybe, maybe not. Cry For friends, HIV+, divorced, estranged, etc. Cry For myself pity pity pity! I cover my face My surrounding, incense, wine, candle, shadows on the ceiling, "Jesus to a Child", my face still smooth... "God", I pray, "God, help me, so weak, can't feel You, can't feel..." Must be the wine God I can't cry! March 1997 thai ta                                                        go to next poem         out of here