San Francisco – One benefit of being a poet–as opposed to, say, a politician or talk-show host–is that you can be the most celebrated person in your field, a virtual rock star among those who study, read and write poetry, and still remain anonymous in just about any public setting. The thought occurs to me as I stand outside one of this city's finer Japanese-fusion restaurants (a fancy joint called Yoshi's) chain smoking and awaiting the arrival of Robert Hass, a poetry rock star if ever there was one.
Posted June 30, 2009

Another week, another scandal. While living in the Philippines, it’s easy to become inured to them. The scandals follow in bold headlines in the national newspapers: The Euro Generals! The Alabang Boys! The Broadband Scandal! No wonder many, if not most, Filipinos—from cab drivers to the elite of Forbes Park—shrug when another scandal comes along. The latest scandal, “The Great Book Blockade of 2009,” deals with the flagrant violation of an international treaty by the Department of Customs, known to Filipinos nationwide as one of the most corrupt departments in the country. For me, this scandal is atypical in several ways.
Posted May 25, 2009

During the past year that I’ve reported on Tibetan issues from my base in India, one of the Dalai Lama’s recurring messages has struck a chord in me. It isn’t his well-known calls for peace, nonviolence and compassion. Rather, it’s his constant reminder that “We are not against Chinese people. We still have faith in Chinese people.”
Posted May 11, 2009

The first thing our guide Mr. Li said to the people whom he knew had inflicted untold suffering onto his country was “Welcome. I hope you had a good flight.” Then he paused. "We call you the U.S. Imperialists, since you came in and divided our homeland. When some Korean calls you U.S. Bastards or U.S. Imperialists, I will just translate that. I hope that’s okay, I’m just doing my job.”
Posted May 6, 2009

I am embarrassed to say the first time I encountered the term wabi-sabi was late last year at a souvenir shop in an American museum. It was the one book cited by most of the few writings I have since dug up on the subject—Leonard Koren’s “Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers.”
Posted April 15, 2009

Mumbai – India is still reeling over the eight Oscars, including Best Film, won by the motion picture "Slumdog Millionaire” last month. The controversy surrounding the film has been put on hold. Earlier questions—Is “Slumdog Millionaire” an Indian film? Does it portray the city of Mumbai and the dynamic, complex slums of Dharavi respectfully? Is the use of the word “dog” in the film’s title derogatory?—are for now, at least, moot.
Posted March 3, 2009

At the Caticlan airport on our way back from Boracay, my six-year-old daughter Shoshie got nabbed with a small bag full of seashells. Most of them were little pieces of bleached coral, nothing anyone but a six-year-old would think worthy of picking up. The policeman who found the contraband was all smiles and apologetic, but something seemed to be going on in his eyes, suggesting that he was weighing options. “Where are you traveling?” he asked my wife, Margie.
Posted February 24, 2009