Humility
is the greatest victory :
the self-conquered
has nothing to dread
steel can't pierce at all
its impregnable wall
grounded and steadfast
every glory it will surpass

Smart people
    there are too many
    not all achieved their goals-
    they lacked curiosity -

    how they did bask
   in their past each victory
   resting too long on their laurel
   they faded away in complacency

It's hard
      to let go
     the past
     it lingers
     and refuses
     to part-

     its say
    it has not completed
    it's at your heel
    you can't escape
    its tenacious grasp

    once long ago
    you thought
    with it you had done
    you couldn't succeed
   it was too obstinate
  and left you helpless

  the cure is to allow it
to coerce and shout
to it be indifferent
don't react or respond-
it will wear itself out

like the passing
of time
it will lose its sting
and you'll be free
at last!

I write
happily I write
never afraid
of being rejected
even if so
I'll still move forward-
to withdraw
is to be defeated

herein is my life
in words crystallised
within them
I live and die-
a million worlds
I explore and visit
and will never tire-

at this hour of light
there's so much
my creativity to inspire
all else I'll set aside
to love, to feel
to breathe freely
to embrace beauty
to passionately write!

I wish
I had known
it was then
brain-fog
just for a moment
the opportunity
was lost

the right words
I failed to speak
(she was waiting
in such great expectation
with her I lost eye-contact

then she said:
'The wind
is brewing strong
I must leave
in case it were
to break
into a storm'
( a quick glimpse
of her I took
in her eyes
there was a tiny teardrop)-

evening was setting in
into the fading light
she walked
I couldn't find
the words to say-
my heart grievously broke!

By then
the wonder
would have
come to an end

time has spoken

the rose
greeted you
you ignored
soon enough
it was dead

love wooed you
you turned away
giving the excuse
you weren't ready
(as though you heart
had been stitched)
it wept and visited
never again

by now
the sun has set
the daylight waited
but you were wrapped
within yourself
(in rumination)
sad, how really sad!

Alone
forlorn
you're left
to the darkness
and know
no rest

If you truly loved me
     those words you wouldn't have said
     now I've come to realise the truth --
     our relationship has been a mistake-

     no more need I respond
     we'll part for each other's sake
     against you I'll hold no acrimony
     in our new-found freedom we'll celebrate