‘Danger: Helping Is Forbidden’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

Danger: Helping Is Forbidden

By Aw “Curbside” Lee

It’s been a month since he’s been seen—
the Chinese advocate of civil rights—
Li Heping. Two, believed to be police,
came to his door on the 10th of July,

and took him off to where nobody knows,
but Communist operatives beneath
Xi Jinping. Too much helping others goes
against the powers (in control?) that be.

Don’t help the Christians, or the dissidents,
Don’t help the followers of Falun Gong,
and definitely not blind Chen Guangcheng,
the “barefoot” lawyer. Help, and you’ll be gone.

But on they search—Cai Ying and Ma Liunshun—
although no one will tell them where he is—
Li Heping. There’s no helping to be done.
“These days,” Ma says, “no thing surprises us.”

Haiku

By “Lice Brews” Ueda

Down past the alder,
a monarch butterfly flaps,
a dry, beige leaf falls.

Haiku

By Ue “Bird Claws” Ee

High in the alder
near the slowly flowing creek—
the mourning dove coos.

The Day of the Jaguar

By Cesar Dwe Uribe

Dead—Ruben Espinosa. Last month he’d left Veracruz,
because he had been followed, given evil looks and views,
and he was being photographed—the photojournalist.
“I had to leave because it was not a direct threat, but
I got the message.” Understood. He said, “I had to go…”
but still was murdered en la Ciudad de México.
How far do the retractable claws of the Jaguar range?
Who will not fall beneath its cru-el, sharp, ferocious fangs?
It was reported he was tortured on his way to death.
For freedom of the press, the Jaguar cut the man to shreds.

Bruce Dale Wise is a poet living in Washington State who often writes under anagrammatic pseudonyms.

Feature Image: The eleven lawyers were photographed after their arrest and beating in Sichuan on May 13 and 14, after they visited a brainwashing center there. Li Heping is in the approximate center with a blazer. From left to right: Wen Haibo, Tang Jitian, Wang Cheng, Tang Tianhao, Liang Xiaojun, Jiang Tianyong, Guo Haiyue, Li Heping, Zhang Keke, Lin Qilei, Yang Huiwen. (Li Fangping via Weibo.com) (via The Epoch Times)

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