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Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
Swanson Street is yawning
  the pubs are closed
  street-lamps flicker
   cabs are waiting in rows-

  some revellers are drunk
to  Flinders Station how they struggle
a woman is singing La vie en rose
a bird is chirping on a church steeple-

a sudden gust descends from nowhere
it sweeps discarded papers and debris into the crispy air-

a hungry and mangy dog scrounges at the bin
it's pitiful and finds but a banana-skin-

under the lights of Princes Bridge
a few tramps and vagabonds are asleep-

at this sombre hour why am I still wandering?
Time I've lost count of, sitting on a bench in poetry-writing
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
Quest and conquest:
the former speaks of self-fulfilment
the latter is about self-aggrandisement
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
By the silent lake
kids lined up their paper-boats
under the bright sun
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
Early morning mist
hovering o'er wet tree-tops
first flush of birdsong
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
The debris and quagmire
    the remnants of past time
    let's mould them to our fashion
   for a meaningful outcome-

   nothing shall be lost
   if to nothing we succumb
   from ashes springs the phoenix
   the basest can be made sublime.
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
....but time
   has no home:
   to exist
  it must roam

  yet omnipotent
on its very own

   most feared
    by so many
    especially
    when they're alone

   being homeless
  and to none belonged
  it can be irksome:
  its uninvited presence
  is often carelessly thrown

  but
when the world is asleep
it feels a deep sense of loss
in being totally forgotten
Dr Peter Lim Nov 17
....and the time has come
    to pause, to be silent
    to be still, to reflect
   to piece together
    the parts that have been broken-

    the stepping aside
   myself to examine
   to revisit every past scene
  none of which can be forgotten

for memory is just
too persistent
too stubborn
and makes unwarranted demands
on the vulnerable person

but I'll step into myself
to stand on alone
and claim
what's that I own-
my dignity
my freedom
my will-to-be
that can never
be taken
away
or ever stolen
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