Student to Master:
Revered Master, please tell me why I am so unhappy.

Reply: From your tone and posture, so suggestively
this I can say unreservedly:
it's because you have taken yourself too seriously.

We talk too much

few people do we touch

and most rush away as such!

Backward into time there was another me
I was solitary but brave and sure
my finger stretched out to the edge of eternity
life was instant glory---pain I'd not have to endure-

the years spoke later:  how fragile is beauty
for love that's vanished, where's the true cure?
lost innocence weeps to last for a century
the waters left to drink have all become impure.

Bad writing
is prevalent
virulent, insolent-
the writer's very dying

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

The day is sweating work
the night is restless worry
mortgage is oppressive
the kids are hungry-

taken on a second job
though the pay is paltry
borrow from loan-sharks
they charge 50% interest annually--

my wife is a washerwoman
from a very poor family
she labours without complaint
she's My Fair Lady-

when I'm sad and lonely
I learn to write poetry
my friends say I write badly
and I reply: But it makes me happy!

The day I need for living
but more the night
my burden I'll then set aside
when none is in sight

the roar of waking hours
incessant chatter of those around
the gossip, the hype and the envy
never a pleasant or welcoming sound

city-life, towering high-rise
Rolls-Royces, boutiques, grand cafes
leading brand-names,  flashy aristocrats
top business-names---  million-dollar pays

to all that a stranger am I
Mozart I'll bend towards, poetry I'll write
with none or whatever I need not vie
this simple life I live is just right.

I have nothing to give
nor anything to take
I bring no gift
I am not for anyone's sake-

I cause no grief
no one's dream do I break
I have my own silent belief
what I am I have to self-make

Life we have forgotten
but it does not forget us
it will judge in a future date
whether we have lived with purpose-

we have been too self-conscious
sometimes are vain-glorious
drowned in futile busy-ness
we are empty and exist in barrenness

Ourselves we over-price and embellish

as though we are items in life's market-place

in our name-tags that beholders might relish-

we would die in the absence of applaud or praise

Before you can become
first be calm

We are never of a constant mental state
we respond to every situation to relate

It's my house
  I open and shut my gate
  it's not my responsibility
  to care for any other's estate

This word I fear
        most is'saturation'
        I'd be caught in extremity
        which defeats satisfaction

I have difficulty
  myself to teach
  to others
now could I reach?

Categorise
  and you agonise

Without attitude
     there could be no rectitude

If you have too large a  hope
   would you be able to cope?

Much of living
    is just testing

Life is perenially problematic
     always ensure you make the right pick

Be your own person
     life's first lesson

If the little
         I know does work
         that's enough
         I won't end up broke!

Being unnoticed

I found my peace

The non-doing
is the winning-
all struggling
is the losing-

thinking
is inferior to
intuiting --

reasoning
is the confusing-

knowing
is the impeding-

letting
go
is superior
to holding-

in the self being nothing
is its self-discovering-

in the self-forgetting
is the intrinsic being-

emptying
is the unburdening -

the self-effacing
is its triumphing-

the self-silencing
is wisdom-breeding -

giving
is the receiving-

dying
is the home-returning

Zen:
       the moment-
       no future nor past
       only the present

Life is a point of view
there's no consensus
it's the mindless democracy
that causes endless mess:

the cavemen and women
had a common voice and purpose
hunting food for survival
seeking water for their thirst

now ideologies abound
to inveigle and impress
many ,like sheep are led
to join the crowded rand senseless rest-

there's schism and conflict all over
but harmony can't be harnessed:
external forces seek to control minds
in ways so nefarious and surreptitious

Be your own inspiration
your life will never be the same

Such I am so used to-
others' insulting remarks
I am immune-- my skin
bears no bleeding marks

My mind finds the words
my heart turns them into language
the former is ruffled feather
the latter is beautiful plumage.

There's no hurry
dawn is yawning still
the first rose is still asleep
silence reigns in the hill.

There's no hurry
dew is still on the grass
the sun is yet to do its round
nature has no cause to rush.

There's no hurry
kids will not be late for school
mum is preparing breakfast
of goodies on the table there will be full.

There's no hurry
sleep is upon my love's tender eyes
I'll let her dream of our wondrous days
when I was her most precious prize.

I should not try
your beauty to describe
only that I should
open my heart to imbibe

Beauty is not just appearance
  it must have the power of endurance

The beauty outside
is only physical
that which is most beautiful
resides inside

Beauty should not blind
nor make us leave all senses behind

Beauty that's over-magnified
does make for a jaundiced sight

My eyes are enticed----beauty dazzles-
but my heart warns: beware,  love puzzles!

The beautiful will be the same
as the ugly---it will fade and perish
and be placed where the latter is

Beauty gladdens the eye
but doesn't bring in the bread
it might be praised sky-high
yet it's food that runs ahead-

time does inexorably go by
wrinkles on beauty's face they shed
if all land and sea were to run dry
we would all starve and soon be dead.

The unseen--invisibility
    makes for the greatest beauty.

Beauty should be felt
not in the least understood
the heart that worships never forgets
thinking is a tool rough and crude.

Because I love you too much
I need say nothing more
these few words are enough
I shouldn't repeat what I said before

too much shaking of the rose
makes its petals fall
let our love dwell in beautiful silence-
it speaks all

Mum led me to sleep
reading my favourite story
now at bedtime I lull myself
reading poetry---

mum is long gone
still remains my tearful memory
her tender voice I hear
as though she's still beside me.

Two points of time
before and after
each person compares
which is worse or better-

living is a tortuous maze
doubts and anxiety they never cease to gather
hopes and dreams struggle all day to survive
life for most is lived in singular and lonely pallor.

Before long
shall come that day
when I'll be silent-- unaware
all hours have passed away.

If yourself
you should judge
do be gentle
we're all fallible

never forget
the past mistake
is a lesson acquired-
there'll be a better take

as with time
you forward travel
the dark will give way
to the light--once the veil

has been lifted
it's all clarity ahead
be gentle with yourself
let no tear be shed

Climbing the highest peak is a task most monumental
but begging for a favour is infinitely more difficult

Even the best among us are beginners and woe to those who think they have arrived.

Describe yourself --honestly--
in five adjectives-

And what does that mean:
being a man?
looking at the worst sides
of myself-- I'm merely an unwanted can!

Dear Nancy

I don't even count yet as work-in-progress--
still writing my first few lines.
Call me a 'preliminary'.

Inspiring you?  I really can't--
I struggle, most of the time.

Correct words are pure gems,
hidden in mysterious ocean-depths.
I could never reach there-
I can't swim.

You have the passion and the talent
and I  eagerly await your writings.
Put your trust in yourself alone.

I remain
yours truly
P