Don't idealise love
    it has its faults too
    many couples will
   to this bear testimony
   and assert it's true:

   life is no fairy-tale
   forget the Pollyanna
   and the Cinderella
   it's harsh and rough
   much too much by far-

   such a tale being told
   a sombre view of love we should take:
   like all things in human experience
  everything has its blemish--nothing's perfect!

Utility
            above beauty:
             the latter
              can't feed the hungry

             some or a few only
             will set all aside readily
             for the sake of beauty-
             such dreamers are a tiny minority

              life isn't the paradise
              for the singing of poetry
              which looks away from reality
              in idealising  beauty

             the truth will bear out eventually:
             too short-lived and fragile is beauty
             the sun cannot shine for all time
             the night will set in and beauty will sink into obscurity

Some hide more
      from their own selves
      than from others
      for reasons
     they can't even fathom-
     such is the mystery
     of the hidden self
     the inexplicable

    beyond the realm
    of science, philosophy
    psychology,  wisdom
   and the metaphysical

  
    man, the mixture
    of heart and mind
    their lack of consonance :
    the experience
    and the innocence
    the love and the hate
    the joy and the sorrow
    the quest and search
    that ends never-
     the clarity and meaning
    that's hard to gather-
    the gap that's unfilled:
    this is man's blind-spot
    and his dreams unfulfilled

I don't own the world
unless  myself I truly own
it bears no meaning
unless I live within

Literature will save
life and the world
such wisdom
science doesn't have

Be silent
let love speak!
Such poignant words
forever keep
which time
can't take away:
into every heart
they run deep
and never
will they sleep

Departed
not forgotten
let the silence be
no word need be spoken-

love  --the everlasting thread
it can't eve be broken
that which is anchored
in the loving heart, can't be stolen-

not far, so intimately near
is that blessed, so sublime land
where no pain, fear or tear
ever exists-  the vista so grand

as to outlast every earthly splendour:
such poignancy does it graciously lend
the darkest cloud of time to dispel
and the sweetest hours to forever present

* I first wrote a poem after her when I was 18, in matriculation

Truth

doesn't dispute-

falsehood

has a plethora

of words to spit

If an idea
can't be expressed simply
it's not worthy
to be regarded seriously

IN MEMORIAM
              LGE (1937-  2025)



Though the treasured  light
has been taken from our sight-
with love our hearts will still glow
to last for ever more-

hand-in-hand  and heart-to-heart
we've travelled through life's every part
how fresh such happy memories still linger
we'll never cease to remember-

such tender love  and care
to your family you did render
such sacrifice and nobility
bear testimony to your magnanimity -

life is the happy coming-together
and also the sad breaking asunder
yet nothing will be lost to hearts that love
every pain and suffering they will rise above

When silence
is the answer
without the use
of words

The immediate impulse
to love is not reason
but the sharpened curiosity
and the deep desire
to know and draw near
to the other person-
the heart only has the say
(the mind is kept away)
of love's essence it has spoken

Literature is life

life is literature

herein is found

every rapture

They are usually successful or famous writers.

They leave their contact details in social media
seeking people to purchase their books.

However, other than that consideration,
they have a coda:
'  Due to the large number of mails I receive,
   I'm unable to answer any nor do I entertain
  unsolicited mails'

This is hubris to a stinking extent
and also totally lacking in grace and humanity.

Thus, I refuse to purchase their books.

The talents of such people shouldn't make
them feel they stand apart from others!
A famous Chinese proverb goes like this:
Chiang-chong hai-yu chiang-chong sow:
You are strong(or smart) but there will be others who are stronger (or smarter!'

It's not enough-reading-
more important is
the reflecting, the analysing
and the understanding

I'm only a learner
not a leader
and am glad to be so--
no more

Each life looks
     at itself
     and is unsure
     whether
     to cry
     or laugh:
    
    the chagrin
     and messiness-
    
      the comedy
     the tragedy-
    
     what to hold
     on to
     and what
     not to grasp-

     when to be silent
     and when to ask
     whether to doubt
     or to trust-

     the absurdity
     of it all
     being mortal
     and human
     in the crucible
     of time-
    mindlessly cast.

No one else
  will I weigh against
  I've neither
the talent nor the strength

I know you are a scholar
but don't Latinise
I've enough problem with English
please don't agonise!

All the world's wisdom
is futile to me
if I've lost my freedom

Perhaps I am wrong, please excuse me

Remember
to forget-
forget
to remember-

that's the secret
of no-regret

Life is over-rated:
mind the chagrin
the se-back, the regret
the little to be celebrated

I'm just an ordinary writer
don't mistake me for a scholar

They are twins-
  prose and verse
  different words they use
  but neither vies to be the first

Isn't our mind
a hidden castle
known to none
other than our own self?

Me:  Dear Albert

do excuse me-
I'll never be able
to understand
your Relativity Theory.

Albert: My friend

don't you worry:
what really
matters is
I take to heart
your poetry:
of life you write
this is the subject
which moves humanity.

(He added:
Have a cup of tea.

After that we together played
Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert
Schumann, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky -
so well he played the violin
while I did, so very poorly!)

It's the same enjoyment
            with the lighter baggage:
             why would you choose
            the heavier---to your disadvantage?

Believe something
           but be prepared
          to discard if later
         you should find it
         to not fit
         your distilled thinking

What I write
is neither deep
nor philosophic:
it's merely
the gems
of commonsense
I humbly pick

I will come
         as a joy-bringer
         not as a heart-breaker
         or dream-destroyer .....

Don't think
of reward
it might happen
only with hard work

Only in being alone
am I self-owned

The past talks more
than the present
and quite often
it punishes the person

Weltschmerz -
it will come
to everyone
is real time-
sooner or later:

the same scenes
felt and enacted
the voices
too many heard
the grind of monotony
the dirge of sameness
people and friends
who come and disappear-

even the fairest rose
is pale and weary
of its once proud pose-
even the sea
its own murmur
doesn't covet anymore-

old dreams return
to roost- after
each summer
and winter
now wish
no longer
to wander-
the search
is over-
the heart
is tired
of longing
and peace
it prays for-


ah, love
love so dear
so gentle, so tender
longs to rest
in slumber
ere the break
of another morrow

and you and I
who have travelled
so long together
now sit back
to forget
rather
than remember-
memory's every page
is dotted
with much sorrow

ah,  Weltschmerz
the world-pain
and weariness-
the inevitable
that swallows
us all
who have grown old
and our life it darkens
with its pervading shadow

Homeward-bound-
how exhilarating
if on your shelf
good books are found!

(posted in site of 'Bound by Books'

Do not be bound
by anything
not even yourself:
this is freedom's true meaning

You've been insulted-
for the first time?
Be prepared:
many more will come!

You don't sing well?
No matter--sing just for yourself!

You don't sing well?
No matter--sing just for yourself!

Grant me not intelligence
but resilience

The heart has eyes
that see clearer than sight

Despite the day's chagrin
be grateful for the benefits received

After the day's hard work
calmly walk into nature

Don't give advice-
             others are smarter than you

Walk away when you are not needed

Do not stay in anyone's way

Work harmoniously with your team

Help the needy readily

Watch your tongue!