chuichoo - Hello Poetry

Dark, whirly clouds of grey Smoky tendrils reaching towards the skies The blue and grey interact Creating a gradient, white to black

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Aug 30, 2017

Aug 30, 2017 at 7:11 AM UTC

Untitled

Dark, whirly clouds of grey Smoky tendrils reaching towards the skies The blue and grey interact Creating a gradient, white to black

4

When you think you know When you think you can relax That’s when it happens A betrayal, hatred; a sudden attack

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Aug 30, 2017

Aug 30, 2017 at 6:50 AM UTC

Not for a moment

When you think you know When you think you can relax That’s when it happens A betrayal, hatred; a sudden attack

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She walks alone at night In the pitch black darkness, unafraid Of what may come In the absence of light Her thoughts move like demons Gliding in the dark spaces Slipping in and out freely Leaving invisible traces She can feel them nonetheless They inflict pain beyond measure But she is unafraid now; She has felt far worse Her body is numb from the pain and cold Howling winds that have made her so Both physically and mentally She emerges battered and drenched – but still on her feet

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Aug 16, 2017

Aug 16, 2017 at 10:21 AM UTC

Nightstalker

She walks alone at night In the pitch black darkness, unafraid Of what may come In the absence of light Her thoughts move like demons Gliding in the dark spaces Slipping in and out freely Leaving invisible traces She can feel them nonetheless They inflict pain beyond measure But she is unafraid now; She has felt far worse Her body is numb from the pain and cold Howling winds that have made her so Both physically and mentally She emerges battered and drenched – but still on her feet

16

She stays up all night Thinking of things no one else might Her mind full of ordinary things Still scary enough to keep her awake

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Aug 14, 2017

Aug 14, 2017 at 6:03 AM UTC

The girl and the ordinary things

She stays up all night Thinking of things no one else might Her mind full of ordinary things Still scary enough to keep her awake

4

Teach me To be vulnerable How to leave my arms and heart Wide open For I have no trouble Keeping it shut To be honest That’s exactly the problem

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Aug 11, 2017

Aug 11, 2017 at 10:42 PM UTC

Armour

Teach me To be vulnerable How to leave my arms and heart Wide open For I have no trouble Keeping it shut To be honest That’s exactly the problem

8

That girl you see, tall and strong Inside she struggles, so much more Her exterior, a hard shell Inside, an entirely different person; someone else

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Aug 3, 2017

Aug 3, 2017 at 9:05 AM UTC

The girl and her shell

That girl you see, tall and strong Inside she struggles, so much more Her exterior, a hard shell Inside, an entirely different person; someone else

4

Sometimes she feels unbearably lonely As she sits alone, in her study In a large house, full of rooms Penning poems on her own

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Aug 2, 2017

Aug 2, 2017 at 12:51 PM UTC

The girl and her pen

Sometimes she feels unbearably lonely As she sits alone, in her study In a large house, full of rooms Penning poems on her own

4

Po Po wakes up in the middle of the night She’s scared, her eyes – unusually wide She checks the gate three times Until she’s contented that it’s bolted, safe from the outside When she did that she told my uncle To always remember so that they’d be guarded from the robbers You never know if they’re hidden in the rubber trees All around; it’s so easy to deceive She has forgotten, that she’s in the present Her children all grown now Enough to scare away any plunderer or thief The area still scattered with rubber trees, but no longer dangerous like it used to be You see 40 years ago she raised Nine children on her own, her husband away Working in the city to provide for the family It was inevitable; yet she must have still felt lonely A woman alone, nine children in a tow She was fearful for their safety In that time and place – understandably so She didn’t know what could happen, if she didn’t lock the doors So every night without fail she did How scared she must have been Laying wide awake in bed Hoping that in the morning, everything would be okay Just the other day she asked my father A worried expression, but her words did not falter Are you doing well, she asked Reminded of the rough times he had in the past She has forgotten that in the present My father runs, successfully, his own business It is tough sometimes but goes well enough To provide for me, my mother and brother; he has built a comfortable life for us The same happened to my father’s siblings Four brothers, four sisters – all with their own families When they realised what and why she was asking I imagined that they all stopped and realised something “Lao ren chi dai” is what they call it in Mandarin A common condition for the ageing and elderly Dementia I realised is what Po Po has It’s no wonder she has the tendency to forget This we all accepted easily Life went on – that is how my family is Stoic and accepting of whatever happens Stereotypically Asian? I guess that is how we reacted What made me sad though was not that she forgot But that she remembered the bad times, and her thoughts From those parts of her life are very telling Of the uneasy and difficult experiences she was reliving How hard it was for her I will never fully understand I’m lucky enough to live a life very blessed But I wish I could shoulder some of her burden and her stress If that would even help at all; for I cannot prevent what happened back then ~ When she passed, I will never forget My youngest uncle, his eyes so kind They teared up, I swear I saw him cry It was the strongest display of negative emotion I had ever seen In my short, but whole life of knowing him

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Aug 1, 2017

Aug 1, 2017 at 9:26 AM UTC

My grandmother and dementia

Po Po wakes up in the middle of the night She’s scared, her eyes – unusually wide She checks the gate three times Until she’s contented that it’s bolted, safe from the outside When she did that she told my uncle To always remember so that they’d be guarded from the robbers You never know if they’re hidden in the rubber trees All around; it’s so easy to deceive She has forgotten, that she’s in the present Her children all grown now Enough to scare away any plunderer or thief The area still scattered with rubber trees, but no longer dangerous like it used to be You see 40 years ago she raised Nine children on her own, her husband away Working in the city to provide for the family It was inevitable; yet she must have still felt lonely A woman alone, nine children in a tow She was fearful for their safety In that time and place – understandably so She didn’t know what could happen, if she didn’t lock the doors So every night without fail she did How scared she must have been Laying wide awake in bed Hoping that in the morning, everything would be okay Just the other day she asked my father A worried expression, but her words did not falter Are you doing well, she asked Reminded of the rough times he had in the past She has forgotten that in the present My father runs, successfully, his own business It is tough sometimes but goes well enough To provide for me, my mother and brother; he has built a comfortable life for us The same happened to my father’s siblings Four brothers, four sisters – all with their own families When they realised what and why she was asking I imagined that they all stopped and realised something “Lao ren chi dai” is what they call it in Mandarin A common condition for the ageing and elderly Dementia I realised is what Po Po has It’s no wonder she has the tendency to forget This we all accepted easily Life went on – that is how my family is Stoic and accepting of whatever happens Stereotypically Asian? I guess that is how we reacted What made me sad though was not that she forgot But that she remembered the bad times, and her thoughts From those parts of her life are very telling Of the uneasy and difficult experiences she was reliving How hard it was for her I will never fully understand I’m lucky enough to live a life very blessed But I wish I could shoulder some of her burden and her stress If that would even help at all; for I cannot prevent what happened back then ~ When she passed, I will never forget My youngest uncle, his eyes so kind They teared up, I swear I saw him cry It was the strongest display of negative emotion I had ever seen In my short, but whole life of knowing him

58

Tired and happy Expressions on their faces When parents first hold their babies Clad in hospital dresses But in the same hospital there is another A couple, fighting, hours after How are we going to feed her With the rest of our children? At the back of the same building In the shadows at night Is a mother leaving Her child behind Fast forward, 10 years later A boy who only wears long sleeves in the summer He does this to hide all his bruises Given to him by his father In 5 more years A girl who spends all her time outside and away So she doesn’t have to face her parents Who are intoxicated, violent – drunk all day 10 years more He continues to wear his sleeves long Because even though the marks on his arms have faded away The scars in his heart, forever remain Another 5 years She now has 2 children from “sleeping around” Who she’s too busy to look after; She can barely look after herself What will happen in another decade? The boy, now man Will he treat his children the same way? The girl, now woman Will she return home inebriated Day after day? I’m not saying that these outcomes are final But it often happens since children learn by example They may do the same as their parents And end up hurting other people So before you have children please remember The profound impact you can have on another I implore, do not forget The courage to raise a child, before it ends in pain and regret ~ Like fingerprints on glass Damage done To what extent Is a question unasked Some hands leave marks Others mar And also cracks That rip through the glass The worst of all Are those who shatter The delicate material Into a thousand pieces Oh how I wonder The damage inflicted How broken a person’s glass is A telling indication

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Jul 31, 2017

Jul 31, 2017 at 9:00 AM UTC

Children are like glass -

Tired and happy Expressions on their faces When parents first hold their babies Clad in hospital dresses But in the same hospital there is another A couple, fighting, hours after How are we going to feed her With the rest of our children? At the back of the same building In the shadows at night Is a mother leaving Her child behind Fast forward, 10 years later A boy who only wears long sleeves in the summer He does this to hide all his bruises Given to him by his father In 5 more years A girl who spends all her time outside and away So she doesn’t have to face her parents Who are intoxicated, violent – drunk all day 10 years more He continues to wear his sleeves long Because even though the marks on his arms have faded away The scars in his heart, forever remain Another 5 years She now has 2 children from “sleeping around” Who she’s too busy to look after; She can barely look after herself What will happen in another decade? The boy, now man Will he treat his children the same way? The girl, now woman Will she return home inebriated Day after day? I’m not saying that these outcomes are final But it often happens since children learn by example They may do the same as their parents And end up hurting other people So before you have children please remember The profound impact you can have on another I implore, do not forget The courage to raise a child, before it ends in pain and regret ~ Like fingerprints on glass Damage done To what extent Is a question unasked Some hands leave marks Others mar And also cracks That rip through the glass The worst of all Are those who shatter The delicate material Into a thousand pieces Oh how I wonder The damage inflicted How broken a person’s glass is A telling indication

59

You got lost at the very start You were raised by strangers Thought that you were unwanted Not enough Hard to find a place Somewhere to settle, to stay A place safe and warm Home, a place to call No time to find yourself When you’re busy with too much Life throws more lemons at you Than it does at everyone else I don’t know what to say Except “stay strong” But as if that could make things better I wish I could do more Just know that you’re not unwanted That I’m here with open arms A place called home can be a person Ready to catch all the lemons life throws at us I know that there are some things I can’t understand But if there ever comes a time when you need a hand Let me know and I’ll be there A listening ear, a shoulder to cry on when you can no longer bear I hope you don’t shut yourself out from the world Thinking no one will care And suffer alone It’s too much to withstand

0

Jul 30, 2017

Jul 30, 2017 at 4:02 AM UTC

My friend is an orphan -

You got lost at the very start You were raised by strangers Thought that you were unwanted Not enough Hard to find a place Somewhere to settle, to stay A place safe and warm Home, a place to call No time to find yourself When you’re busy with too much Life throws more lemons at you Than it does at everyone else I don’t know what to say Except “stay strong” But as if that could make things better I wish I could do more Just know that you’re not unwanted That I’m here with open arms A place called home can be a person Ready to catch all the lemons life throws at us I know that there are some things I can’t understand But if there ever comes a time when you need a hand Let me know and I’ll be there A listening ear, a shoulder to cry on when you can no longer bear I hope you don’t shut yourself out from the world Thinking no one will care And suffer alone It’s too much to withstand

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