122918   122921

Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Three Times
billiard parlor girls in modern Taiwan
young and slim in skirts and proportioned slacks
they do table resets
keep score    
brush off ash and crumbs
clean up cigarettes
attract idle young men

the new girl May conceals a letter to a girl who has moved on
the author returns and falls in love again    this time it’s May
he tells her he’ll write a letter    
when he does she’s gone

a long evening on leave
he searches among billiard stalls until
May sees him standing there
she laughs joyously  
they get something to eat    and late
the train schedule done for the night
the bus station where they’ll wait
he takes her hand
youth fades imperfectly
in need of strength.