Skeleton Park

Here is the place
where the bones lie
just below the surface.

Grass over a mass grave.

Cholera killed them
if labour didn't
and time seems to pass
although it is not like that.

One hundred and eighty years
reflect
in living silence.

The houses have grown up all around --
the children play on the city swings.

At the summer solstice
the neighbourhood hires a band
and everyone dances till midnight.

There are red balloons floating in the air
a hair ribbon flutters to the ground
and time seems to pass
although it is not like that
here where the bones lie
just below the surface.

-- Mi Fa-So