I went, I listened, people I saw
I returned, lost hope, it made me sore

True love doesn't need to make any vows
on its own it silently glitters and tenderly flowers.

She loves me
  yes, she adores me
  she knows I'm silly
  but love her truly

The angst of living
   is the in-between
  
  the daily grinding
  the regular scene

  the waiting and wishing
  the sighing over what has been

tomorrow ---the unknown and unsettling thing
none could foresee whether the pasture there would be green

Long ago, from the well of friendship I drank
     I threw out!  The water tasted like acid--it also stank!

Let me be forthright and honest
   I am never what you always thought
   you missed the tree for the forest
   you never discovered what I was NOT!

I have walked the way
        of what a gentleman should be
        I found it never ever did pay
        henceforth I became a new me.

Don't dream

           act

           the former is intangible

           the latter is a fact

The city's traffic summon does read:
Mr Goodman, you did exceed the speed limit
our Office does not allow any offender to plead
appear at the Magistrate Court on....: that's it.

I know you once taught your only son
the law without exception to obey
to be responsible for whatever he has done
never to stray from the rightful way.

He grew up to join the Police Force
your every instruction he took to heart
he shut himself from all immoral doors
he did excel in life's ethical art.

With much regret this I must say
you are culpable for what you have done
I have posted this summon this very day
but I remain your loving son.

Life-- the non-negotiable
in most parts unknowable
I'll do just the possible
leave the questions to other people.

I am at the brink of time
there's no looking back--
the past dissolves and my life
is in the balance.  A tiny crack

would make me slip
into the abyss of the unknown-
I have chosen this path
and none should I blame--alone

this is my moment of reckoning
yet my heart so assured does rest
life is never to be feared but to be conquered
every challenge it poses has to be addressed

in the singularity and insularity
of the now-- nothing shall stand in my way
all my inner resources I will harness
here my testament I write- I will stay.

I paused
not because
I was lost
events have
moved like
a cinema- screen
pictures upon pictures
have been tossed
all across
before the blink
of the sharpest eye
nor the smartest mind
could digest or think

whatever that's along
the road would never
make me sink
nor bring
me to the brink
of despair-- somehow
I would be able to find
(despite my unbearable thirst)
water to drink
from some remote spring

defeat--call it quits
never does enter
my thinking
it calls for raw unflinching
courage to be a human being^

man at the last
as was at beginning
never a paltry thing#

my pausing
is my renewing
a new breath
I'm taking
my just-resting
a while-- waiting
for my resurrecting

a personal drama
at the crossroad^
a performing
with none watching
the moment of truth^
in the budding

the hard ground
my bed--
with no pillow
nor blanket
but the stars^
are patient and kind
their gentle light
they shed
and these words
they seem to have said:
do not lose heart^
for you will find
your heart-land ahead
only that
you must have faith...^

No longer
could I pretend
the truth has spoken
at the end.

Magistrate, male,    32 years of age
   policeman on duty  30
   the man on the dock 60

Magistrate to policeman : What's the nature of his offence?

Policeman: He cycled in the night on....at... pm without light
This is in contravention of Section....sub-clause....of the Traffic Act 1892

to the defendant: How do you plead?
Defendant:  Not guilty and unjust, Your Honour

Magistrate to policeman: Was he co-operative?
Answer: No Sir, he was angry and gave me a lecture

M:  lecture---about what? The law? Is he a lawyer?

P:   No Sir, he talked about family honour, Chinese filial piety,
Confucius and Chinese civilisation with 5,000 years of history...on and on...

M:  Is he a scholar or historian?

P:  No Sir, he certainly isn't !

M:   Then, who is he?

P:     Sir, I know him very well--he's my father!
He said I had no right to arrest him as that was lack of filial piety.

M:   Hmm, really interesting.  Never had such a case before me.
then to policeman:
       ' Your dad was right!  You should have heeded what he said.
You are wasting Court-time. Case dismissed!

        (newsmen and those who sat in Court gave a loud clap and
shouted: Bravo!)

Do
      Do.....doo.....doo-dooooo I, I, I...... have a
d
     r
       i
         n  
            k....
                drink....dri--nk
                                            king.....drink....
                                                                      dri-nk.....king
                                                                                                 prob,  pro-b..
lem... prob...prob... pro-blem?

   ......spew......
                               you,  you,  bug..bug  bug---gers
why, why.... should you care?     You aren't...aren't my fa---fa--father!

Officer-on-duty to subordinate:  LOCK THIS BABBLER UP!

At the river's end
the waters slacken
dusk sets in too soon
the hours darken-

this is my last sailing
destiny's call does beckon
its message I harken
' know there's no return'--

the sky is a shroud of grey tonight
neither moon nor star does glisten
a long-drawn sigh as though the heart is in plight
drifts in the silent air-- sorrow- ridden --

the dreams of youth I recall
how passions then ruled over reason
love was stronger than death and pain
to suffer in its name was pure heaven-

upon manhood's fretful years
lofty thoughts no longer appeared in season
the scene was fraught with remorse and regret
sadly amidst  hopes broken and ideals forgotten--

'life is folly and love a make-believe'
time is indifferent and has heartlessly spoken
old age is reconciled to what has been assigned
in acceptance of doleful days which were once shone golden-

at the river's end the waters begin
to recede and dark shadows loom in the horizon
my eyes are weary and long for a deep sleep
I have no desire upon the dawn to waken.

I might give myself a pinch
when I do something stupid
I'd merely pause to think
never hit myself with a big stick!

No one need audit me

I have done that over and over

but too wide is my territory

the picture gets no clearer

We'll take
the journey together
humanity's ties
should never sever

we'll partake
of what's in the larder
distribute and divide
none shall be in hunger

we'll travel
the route farther
to reach out
to every brother and sister

we'll share
the tears of one another
humble our each heart
in devout prayer.

Give us this day our daily bread
and the power to overcome every dread

Our doubts multiply
the more we believe what others say
we have to step back constantly
and keep others' thinking at bay

That I of long ago
still does endure
with time--more so
I am sure

this is the sum total-
what little do I know
of life that's particular
or general- do I scarcely grow

if any, at all?
yet fleeting moments
simple, ordinary, small
guide my waking movements

all said, this is the overall:
though ignorant, myself I still own
I should stand tall and not fall
living is about being what I am--alone

I counted---1,2, 3 up to ten
it shocked me: none is a true friend!

So often I don't see eye-to-eye
     with this uncompromising 'I'

So what? No big deal though I was there
it's no one's business such to notice or care.

Look, look, look ten times at me
  study, closely study--I'll still be mystery

Me--wise?
   something's wrong with your eyes!

It makes no difference whether I stay or walk away
    the crowd will continue to sing on:  This is OUR day!

Friendship is perilous, do believe me
  caught in its trap, you'd never be free!

'I forgive' --two words most unreliable
     the expression always infect me with goose pimple

I waited, I waited-- in faith--so long did I wait
  you didn't turn up---with others you chose to celebrate

Enough, yes, enough of myself I've had
walking away does make me less sad

Another time
but what awaits- deja vu
as before?  
nothing is likely to be new-

another time
the past is an appendix
inoperable and undetachable
though the body is grievously sick-

another time
promises are too quick
to fall unto the dust
reality springs to kick--

another time
my parting hour I can't pick
only the now matters
nothing else does stick.

Autumn, season of deep longing

as summer has its farewell bidden

hearts are tuned to rejoicing and loving

affections should no longer be hidden--



O my beloved, wake from thy slumbering

lest our moments be time-stolen

every falling leaf is a tear of mine in flowing

of undying love in each poem it has spoken.

Avant-garde poets are those who could pull a rabbit out from a hat but, after writing their lines,  what has been written, they immediately forget

Life is a puzzle

              it's up to me

              not to make mine a muddle

Go into the world
to learn
like a child
in kindergarten

Am I not more

the cause of my own suffering

than that occasioned by

others or any other human being?

Why do we live so hastily?
Is it because we are afraid
of facing the grim reality
that our life is empty and unhappy?

Still the same as ever before
the over-played and too weary song
memory grinds in subconscious grooves
to the past feelings stubbornly belong

no,  I'll sing such no more
as the silent moments come along
my heart should remake itself
my love shall do no wrong.

We are each
a word in life's lexicon
as we  struggle and suffer
our vocabulary enlarges
we begin to understand
grow stronger and learn--
we are one, all alone
but in our darkest moment
courage and hope emerges
we have no reason
to quit or walk away
bereft or despondent

pain, suffering depression
a ubiquitous  human lot
when the battle has been won
there shall appear
the light warm
and resplendent

I stepped aside, I paused, I had a second look at what was before me.  I was not lost, only awed by the silence and poignancy of the moment.



  I was walking alone in the empty field in early summer in Melbourne. Part of the grass was parched but birds were having their pick of food and made gentle noises, they fought  to get the benefit of more pickings.



Suddenly an eagle stooped over them and they flew away.  There was a row of tall trees the leaves of which swayed in the wind, and their rustle was pleasantly audible.  Birds twittered intermittently and flew from tree to tree.  The sky was white and bluish but the clouds hardly moved. The sun was benign.  



As I was writing my thoughts sitting on an old, partly damaged wooden bench,  I heard someone playing Schubert's Standchen followed by Massenet's Meditation from Thais and lastly Beethoven's Romance in F---I drifted with the music and felt the pieces were played by me.  I was in deep reverie, I felt light, peaceful, even blissful; the moment was sacred and sublime; everything within me was in place--there was no need for thoughts or words---life had manifested its secrets and mysteries to me; there was no need for any search or quest;  I forgot myself in the awesome flow...  Suddenly, came the rain and I was wakened back to reality.

Here I suffocate
under my own skin
looking no farther
from this tiny corner
while the world
looks away from me
as though I were
no more than a shadow--

the forest doesn't have
just one tree or a few
but thousands--how else
could it then be defined so?

If I wish to be
among the lot
as a tree
I've to take root
and be conjoined
to wider world
out there

for if I were
to stay here
my leaves
would never
stretch far beyond
I would be lesser
than what I could be
a virtual death
that would be me

there's
a wider world
space for every tree
and flower
to blossom
and grow

unless
I dare
to take
a new look
at my inner self
I would never
know
whither
I should next
go.

I gazed faraway from my window
into the misty winter dark
waiting for the appearance of a shadow
that shall be you who would bring me love's divine spark.

I gazed faraway from my window
into the misty winter dark
waiting for the appearance of a shadow
that shall be you who would bring me love's divine spark.

I'd rather end power
than to empower

A woman would DIE the moment
when unexpectedly being offered a diamond

Listen

Observe

Focus