Chinese New Year
the cops turn a deaf ear
to the fire crackers

Chinese New Year
home for those intense dizzying
auspicious fire crackers

Chinese New Eve
the sky a scene of US
invasion of Baghdad

Chinese New Year
firecrackers blast away old year
lighting up the new

Chinese New Year
the first black american president
born in the year of Ox became
president in the year
of the Ox
a time all America needs is
a man with the strength of
an ox to straighten all its fields

It has been years I never came back to hometown in Sibu, Sarawak for Chinese New Year spending them mostly in Kuala Lumpur where firecrackers are strictly banned.
Here in Sibu they are also banned but on New Year Eve, the police just turn a deaf ear to them. Afterall, Chinese New Year without the sounds of the crackers is no new year.
The sounds of the crackers lasted for a full hour with a wide range
of crackers that lighted up the sky.
It was almost like what I saw on television of the US's invasion of
Baghdad years back. The only difference is our crackers were for celebration of the most important Chinese festival.

john tiong chunghoo

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/visit-malaysia-year-haiku-chinese-new-year-eve-in-sibu-state-of-sarawak/