Each one of us is a member of ONE body
I could be the nose and you could be the liver
The body is whole if we individually play our part in harmony with others
The fingers doesn't have to compete with the toes
Competition instigates making foes
I respect your contribution
And you respect mine
That's how it ought to go
Problem arises when a part
Deliberately or indeliberately fails to accomplish its purpose or goals
Nevertheless, we have to live with the consciousness that
We are not many but ONE!

F#ck pride,
Let us ride together
Let's put out the fire of jealousy,
that sh#t ain't necessary
Let's rid our hearts of all hatred,
Brothers and Sisters, we are all kindreds
In unity lies our strength,
As a group, we can reach any length
We might err but let's learn to forgive,
Remember oneness is the motive
True love is the only way up,
Let us all drink from the same cup.

Focusing on people's opinions of you
Or giving priority to what they would think of you
Those things come in the way of self-discovery.
If your happiness is tied to a person,
what happens if they switch up on you
Only a few things beat being one with self
Embrace your journey with all that comes with it
Applaud yourself, appraise yourself.
We need one another but you need
no one more than you need yourself.

Touring goes beyond visiting places
It also includes meeting different faces
And yes, I saw a number of places & faces,
But there was this one face in particular
(She happened to be my tour leader)
There's a way she talks and smiles
simultaneously that's so spectacular
It comes out of her unforced, it's so natural

Knowledgeable, passionate, calm
And very compassionate she was.
She told stories of the different places
we visited fluently & impeccably
Severally, she pulled laughs out of me
And filled me back with delicious meals

An icing on the cake was hearing her
tell her own personal story
A story of resilience and bouncing back.
$30 in her pocket at age seventeen,
With no single English word in her mouth
She packed her backpack, moved from Asia to America alone, & the States did hit
her in the face with reality

Down times and low moments couldn't
keep her down, at least not for long
Uneasy but She fought & pushed through
Weathered the storm...
Became an Author (The $30 Journey),
a motivator & above all, a happy person.
She rubbed her joyfulness & positivity on me

It was a 3-day journey like none other,
I'm looking forward to another.

Opinions are the cheapest
Almost anyone can afford
to give some away
Out of the many that
gets thrown at you,
Maybe a few would be valuable
Take them all, then
Sort out the recyclables
from the garbages
Let the irrelevant end in the landfill
When you find opinions of value,
Ensure to refine it.

Our world is getting better
It would be inaccurate to say that
It's getting worse
Can't you see that
Things have changed globally
Watch the news
See for yourself or
What do you think?

Success can happen overnight
But prior to that are
many days and nights of hardwork,
shedding blood, sweat and tears.

Pain felt without lesson learnt
Makes the pain a cycle

We might not be able to choose
how or when we die
But we can choose how we live
Other people's lives are like canvases,
We make our mark on them like a dye
You could either paint beauty on them
or you could be a stain
Living is more than heaping monetary gains
Some rich people die with regrets and pains
So, what impacts do you want to make?
When you're gone, what will people say?
Between birth and death is the time to
make our mark.

Pen to the paper
Telling that sheet all of my fears
It never ceases to give me listening ears
I spill my heart to it, knowing it will not judge me
Then I tear the paper into pieces
And dry my tears with it
That's how I keep my heart outpours hidden
Then I step out with a big smile again.

For better, for worse
doesn't apply if he beats you up
Please pack your stuff and be gone.
If the same arms that keep you warm
also causes you harm, my sister, RUN.
Love and abuse are parallel lines,
they never meet.
Maybe he'll change, maybe he'll not
I'll say, please do not wait to find out
You can't tell when it will be too late. Go!

Your body and its senses
Is a passage to the real You
An inlet to capture external stimuli
An outlet to reveal your inner identity

Let the passion for you dreams
Burn inside you like a Sauna

We have different taste
Yet, we're well blended like paste

Before taking that action or step
Pause and think again!

Before saying that word
Before sending that text
Before making that call
Before making that purchase
Before reacting to whatever it is
Before making that move
Pause and think again!

What are the pros? What are the cons?
Am I hurting myself, anyone or the environment?
Would it be better done at a later time?
Can it be done in a better way?
Pause and think again!

What does peace truly mean,
Is it the absence of storms?

Is it being able to remain unperturbed
or unmoved by storms?

Is it by having immunity to storms?

Is it being able to command the storms to calm?

What does peace really mean?

I haven't seen any store
With peace of mind on their shelves
A wise man once told me
It can only be found within ourselves

More money doesn't equate to more peace
More friends wouldn't bring more peace
Maybe beautiful scenery could help a little
Don't get away to find it, simply look within

Putting the pedal to the metal
Doesn't always bring you closer to the medal
Sometimes, you need to go slower
For the vision to be clearer!

This problem is too big to fix
OR
This problem is too big to miss
The difference is your perception!

I sat there watching the ocean waves gently caressing the sun
As the sun sat gallantly on its surface
A perfect union to behold
I needed not to be told
What a beauty nature is!

Keep your head above water
Get the air into your lungs
Keep the blood flowing in your vessels
When there is life, hope exists
The end of the tunnel is near, just persist
The sun will shine again
Just believe a little more
Winning is guaranteed

The path might look somewhat unclear
My heart might be throbbing due to fear
My pillow might still be moist from tears
Still, I wouldn't stop moving onwards
The path becomes clearer as I proceed
Even with the fears, I'll push through
undeterred
Until the tears of pain becomes the
tears of triumph.

The best outfit an individual can wear
is his/her attitude
A mature mind with
Eyes that see right
Equipped with listening ears
(ears that actually hear)
A mouth that speaks truth
sprinkled with some humour
A genuinely loving heart
A chest that can hold talks when
entrusted to keep it safe
Legs that doesn't walk misleadingly
A bright and loveable personality

All things bright and beautiful
All things night and pitiful
It all depends on the angle
It all depends on perspective
Love is pure
Love is poor
Again, angle and perspective

Every night transitions into
a bright beautiful morning
I know someone might say...
Well, beauty is quite relative.
My question then would be...
Isn't life also about perspective?

A seed has to be given up
to the soil to become a plant
Water is lost from the earth for rain to fall
Often times, we make conclusions just from seeing partial/incomplete pictures

Loss of communication,
Pirate robbing friend-ships

Why do you bottle up anger and keep
within like it's a priceless treasure
Enclosed anger weighs down the soul
Speak out and set your mind free
Forgive and keep your soul at peace.

The heart of (wo)man is as a pit,
Usually of varying depths
Evil-minded people possess a shallow heart,
with monsters trapped within
Kind-hearted people have a deep heart,
full of treasures.

Poetry is deep emotions put into words,
It is heart feelings shed upon a page
It is therapy for some, to stay sane
It's a medium for some to share their message
Poetry is deliberation, it is expression
Poetry is healing, it is art
Poetry is appealing, sometimes controversial
The heart is to poetry what
soil is to a plant.

The words we birth
With pains and pangs
Words from emotions long buried
in the deep places of the heart

It takes courage to let them out
Tenderly crafted into a work of art
Painted beautifully
Sending chills to the reader

A lot has been said about environ-mental pollution
Okay, can we drop the environ for a second
How about the mental pollution in this generation

The internet loads us with data but not necessarily useful information
I wonder, do we have a sieve in our brains
that filters the data as it drains
Or we absorb them all, to clutter up our minds
Gigabytes of junks downloaded into our mental and emotional system

I was on the internet to seek information
But my mental system received Ads injection
Causing a buy this, buy that stimulation
You are not okay if you don't have this or have that
You don't look good, if you're not shaped like this or like that

What we ingest from the internet is 40% information and 60% malware
Don't quote me
Just an opinion that I want to share
This pollution is **** real and it scares!