Steven Schroeder | inauspicious tools


weapons are
inauspicious tools
all despise them

weapons are
inauspicious tools
do not use them

victory is
not beautiful

beautify it
and you are
happy with murder

when people are killed
they should be mourned

when a victory is won
treat it as a funeral

from a guest giving way like ice melting: thirteen ways of looking at laozi (poems and paintings, with Debby Sou Vai Keng). Ink Brush Press | 2010