Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2020
One grasshopper
said to another:
what did you have for breakfast?
reply: I have Alzheimer's--can't remember!
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2020
One shoe said to the other:
you look much more pretty
the former chided:
you are talking silly!
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2020
The famous lion-hunter
    forgot to load his gun
    the king of beasts he did meet
    his life was quickly and deliciously done!
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2020
One bird to another:
    I can fly higher-
    it did succeed
    but courted the gun-fire!
Dr Peter Lim Aug 2020
Every thing
is an issue
the minutiae of living
affects me and you

if I were nothing
I'd suffer no blue
that would be an absurd thing
it couldn't ever be true!
Dr Peter Lim Sep 2019
Life is OK
if you still get a pay
it's not OK
when boss says: Go away!
Dr Peter Lim Aug 2019
Let's go
but where?
do you know
what's over there?

Let's think
but of what?
what thing
would make us smart?

Let's sing
but what song?
of cabbage or king
or right or wrong?

Let's dream
but  what's the theme?
of the rainbow's golden beam
or the taste of ice-cream?
What others regard
as absurd
I don't reject-
it has some
hidden content
that I can extract
which others
do not detect -
haven't we heard
of the folly of the wise
who sometimes commit
stupid mistakes?

And thus
I'm open-minded
in slicing
the inside
of what others
hold as absurd
and lift the veil
hopefully
some meaning
to unearth.
Dr Peter Lim Apr 23
For no academy
      do I qualify
      so I create
      mine inside

      no BA, MA
      or PhD
      no certificate
      nothing signed

       by any VC
      outside-
      of course
      to me, all jobs denied

      yet in my own way
      I do take pride
      I labour all day
      my own certificate I provide
Dr Peter Lim May 2018
For that
which I am
I accept
without regret
grateful and glad
to be simple
and ordinary
despite living
on the fringe
day by day
moment by moment
for so little I want
my heart is free
I am content

daylight shines on me
night provides rest
songs I sing at will
sometimes I read poetry
am I not blessed?

there's the daily
humble bread
and water is aplenty
my fruits and vegetables
in my little garden
I plant
the birds
have theirs nests here
and the bees are busy
it's a good harvest
this season--old Joseph
the ***** stops over often
and shares with me a meal

...oh, the thatch is leaking
the windows are falling apart
the chairs need mending
I'll call upon Tom Tim
my handyman friend
the jobs will be well done
(did I say-'fun'?)

when my eyes are heavy
it's the summon to go to bed
the old carpet has served well
for so long---why complain?
the pillow has been washed
and is an unfailing friend
the sun shall rise tomorrow
somehow I feel with fondness
I'm the world's luckiest man!
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2017
I hope this is the voice of writers in general, however humble.

Every writer's intention is to share his thoughts.  He doesn't compel the reader to buy or read his book. It's natural of him to write/say this:
'here I am writing what I am thinking and about my experience....'.

But life is never short of philistines.  A few might even say:
' Don't advertise before me!'

That the person should articulate the above shows how low- down he/she is---it smacks of ill-will, ignorance, contempt and spite, immaturity and in the worst case--schadenfreude!

Confucius  the sage (600 BC) wrote about the chun-tze (the gentleman, the perfect person) who is kind, tolerant, encourages learning, practises humility, kindness, generosity, shows respect for all people, and delights in the success of others and never denigrates others as the xiao-ren (the 'small' or inferior person) does.

Confucianism has captured the imagination of the West which has openly declared that the founder was among the world's greatest philosophers.

Was the sage advertising himself? If he were so,  would he have survived for over 2,500 years?

Anyone who dares say that the writer is an advertiser must be among the most deplorable.  He or she should be pitied!
Dr Peter Lim Sep 2019
Not quite despair
but that feeling
that won't dissipate
melancholy seething?

The heart knows not
even if it is weeping
love is hard to understand
is it beyond grasping?
Dr Peter Lim Jan 29
You can only be
your true self
when you've ridden
of all your doubts
that are hidden
in your life's shelf-

the past
must be laid dead
into new ground
you must break -
a new path
you must take-
by no means
as easy task
don't you mistake!

The sojourn
will be rough
and tough
your will and resolve
will be put
to the utmost task

the triumph
will be yours
at last
if you're bold enough!
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2024
Let there be light!
    Too dark is the night.

    Let there be hope!
    So many are sad and can't cope.

   Let love gather!
   Sorrow will be broken asunder.

  Let compassion abound!
  It will console all around.

  Let faith settle in!
  It will strengthen our within.

Let prayer heal!
Every heart it will still.

Let friendship flourish!
It will every heart nourish.

Let our words be kind!
It's our very duty to mankind.

Let generosity spread!
The poor and needy will be fed.

Let forgiveness reign!
It will eradicate the giver and recipient's pain.

Let every heart be open!
Even strangers to entertain.

Let the universal message be-
Peace, goodwill and joy to flow freely!

Let the world be one family!
There shall be peace and joy through every century.

Let me embrace you tenderly!
In our common humanity.
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2024
Let there be light!
    Too dark is the night.

    Let there be hope!
    So many are sad and can't cope.

   Let love gather!
   Sorrow will be broken asunder.

  Let compassion abound!
  It will console all around.

  Let faith settle in!
  It will strengthen our within.

Let prayer heal!
Every heart it will still.

Let friendship flourish!
It will every heart nourish.

Let our words be kind!
It's our very duty to mankind.

Let generosity spread!
The poor and needy will be fed.

Let forgiveness reign!
It will eradicate the giver and recipient's pain.

Let every heart be open!
Even strangers to entertain.

Let the universal message be-
Peace, goodwill and joy to flow freely!

Let the world be one family!
There shall be peace and joy through every century.

Let me embrace you tenderly!
In our common humanity.
Dr Peter Lim Feb 3
What you could lift
         you can let off with ease
Dr Peter Lim Feb 2021
People dread the day

thinking it's the same as yesterday

all they do is to tolerate

its opportunities they don't celebrate
Dr Peter Lim Mar 31
Such a common error:
to take the major
as minor
and the latter
as the former
Dr Peter Lim Jan 2019
Double the stake
you'd double the trouble
what's the problem
with these people?
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2024
This is the problem of many:
they seek blindly to acquire knowledge
in such a rush that much can't be digested
they are likely to court misery:

I'll be content with the little that I know
in patience to gradually grow
it would be better to excel in a tiny area
than to try to go beyond only to suffer failure.
Dr Peter Lim Jan 6
I'll not talk
of the end of time
only say: I hope
for the best outcome
Dr Peter Lim Nov 2018
I am not here
the world's wrongs to correct
the truth simply is
I can't even save my own neck!
Dr Peter Lim Nov 2018
Living is about learning and expanding
cherishing, feeling, loving and understanding.
Dr Peter Lim Aug 2018
Life is
either this or that
some things make you happy
others they make you sad-

a time to embrace
a time to kiss
only hoping
the undesirable to miss.
Dr Peter Lim Mar 2020
Live simply
eat moderately
speak gently
sleep soundly

give generously
receive graciously
act humanistically
pray soulfully.
Dr Peter Lim Feb 22
A constant self-exhortation
that he must seek success
is symptomatic
that he hasn't arrived
and is in a stage of restlessness
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2
Since I know myself
why would I want
to be known by anyone else?
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2024
Because of doubt
I live more freely
my life would be static
if lived in certainty
Dr Peter Lim Nov 2024
I don't aim for altitude

my focus is on attitude
Dr Peter Lim Sep 2020
Old age doesn't need
to count the days
its heels are dogged*
by time's unyielding pace

old age is a creaking tree
it can't hold well to its place
it has to give way somehow
that eager saplings will replace

old age has told its weary story
all it wears is wrinkles on its face
despite the vagaries of past seasons
it has tasted the lips of grace

old age is the letting go
the acceptance of the very last phase
no remorse or regret should it know
neither does it need hanker after any praise.
Yeats the Irish Nobel winner wrote the famous poem WHEN YOU ARE OLD
* should be pronounced as 2 syllables
Dr Peter Lim Mar 2020
We are each
an actor
but shouldn't expect
life to be an agreeable spectator.
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2019
May my life
just be as good
as a cup of fine coffee!
Dr Peter Lim Dec 2020
Success--   a dangerous word
it somehow tends to the downward
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2020
It's in your mind
     the dark and the bright
     once the right path you find
     there's the light even at midnight.
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2018
A day is not about hours
it's your engagement with time
did you let yourself down
or achieve something noble or sublime?
Dr Peter Lim Nov 2018
There's no cure
for this my addiction
it eats into my entire system-
my nonsensical verse that defies perdition
Dr Peter Lim Aug 2018
No deal!
you keep the money
what you steal
don't offer me!
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2018
So many paths we have together trodden
Sad moments we'll set aside, glad ones recall
Love's vows shall never be broken
We'll give each other our very all.

Though our spring and summer days are over
Autumn's mellowness will welcome us still
Let our hearts draw closer and grow warmer
With sweet contentment and understanding fill.

'Twas fate that brought us together
Life should be ours to richly fulfil
Neither trial nor travail should set us asunder
Rather strength and endurance instil.

The sun is beckoning and far from setting
Its beams are still hovering over the nearby hill
The evening is awaiting us with its blessing
How calm,  how gentle, how beautiful are these hours still.
Dr Peter Lim May 2019
Let's not try to make
a case for truth
it needs no recognition
nor proclamation-
in our declaration
we would fall into
grievous mistake--

let us in our poverty
of understanding step away
from its sacred gate
let's work on the daily practical
the mundane, the banal
the routine from which we can't escape

yet comfort, joy and satisfaction
there is-- in tasks honest
simple and menial
engaged with devotion
for love and duty's sake
in every ounce of our endeavour
meaning and purpose
we proudly create

truth though hidden
in its overseeing eyes
might glance our way
and in generosity say:
your humility
and simplicity
moves my heart-
a friend I will be
let us come together
as a family
let us with one heart
love and celebrate.
Dr Peter Lim Feb 6
Beauty
can't fill the tummy
as such
it has no utility
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2019
I have nothing to add to
  neither do I have any mission
  that I'll leave to you
  just note my admission.
Dr Peter Lim Apr 2018
I have nothing to show
as nothing I know
Dr Peter Lim Oct 2021
You can walk away  

  it's not too late

  lest this friendship

   you later regret
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2018
Today I will not write
tell a joke, dance or sing
just in no mood (nothing's right)
to do anything

even though the sun is shining bright
and flowers are beckoning in the spring
long will be the hours of the night
I won't be bothered even about sleeping.
Dr Peter Lim Oct 2021
A dream within a dream, beyond the fondest dream

setting sun sheds its fading light on the silent stream

a gentle mist hovers over the silent trees

how calmly drifts the evening breeze



for my love my heart is waiting

my dream she will soon be fulfilling
Dr Peter Lim Jul 2020
A drop in the sea
but felt and remembered
purified by the sublime
fortified by the sacred-

its home is where
love- and- beauty bred
time shall not look away
as its wonders richly spread.
Dr Peter Lim Sep 2015
A DRY SPELL

It's a dry spell
the land is barren
all the crops fail
flowers perish in the garden

my heart now knows
the driest spell
since you walked away
my pain words can scarcely tell

I remember then
the field was bursting
with the sweetest roses
when we met in that spring

my heart is now
only a wasteland
you caused all the flowers
to die-I hope you understand
-
Dr Peter Lim Jan 15
Grasp life
     you'll lose it
     let it be
     nothing will you miss:
     that which is forced
     is against spontaneity
     and you can't be free

     the sage doesn't aim
     at acquiring or winning
     he looks inside himself
    for his equanimity
    he lets go every holding
    

     the loosening
     is happy edge-
     the understanding
    lies in non-chasing
    and the laying down
    of forced doing-

    words open themselves
    to disputing
    they are confusing-
    reasoning is the doubting
    the death of meaning

    the sage is still
    calm, unwavering
    in his self-forgetting
    he finds his true being
Dr Peter Lim Apr 23
Not knowing
     is the best beginning :
     an empty vessel
     invites the fullest filling-

     the knowing
     is the impeding
     within its self-constraining
     nothing new is the acquiring
Dr Peter Lim Apr 15
It's a great gift:
understanding
how to be passive
Next page