Only three letters and eighteen years lie
between innocent cries and ignorant whys.
Toast to the young man with a red-stained tie
just as clear water had turned into wine.

1
Navigating through liquid crowds
in this city map of rooting veins.
With only a single eye, left, open,
capture every drop as it remains
seeping into pedestrian subways.
Neon flyers flutter for today.

There is a hint of salt in the air.

Faceless individuals, they never ask
but somehow they always know.

2
Silent assemblies
at school when we refused to sing;
on the streets we learn
to breathe through toxic chemical overkill
and politics and chemistry
and physics and geography.
And humanities.

We held green tickets for the first time,
not for conventional reasons,

but as an unspoken goodbye.

3
Find comfort in being overshadowed
by trees, by skyscrapers, by people,
yet we speak when need be
to whom
must listen
when we discard our reserved nature
within or against the same brick walls
at home or across the oceans.

They ask you about your hometown
They ask you what this poem is about
Say “it’s complicated”,

* * * * *   * * *   * * * * * * *   * * * * *   * * * *   * * * *   * * *

At the heights of a Surrey valley
is where I stand alone.
The clouds roll in with attempted suppression,
wuthering, as one may say.
Yet they succeed and I do not.

All this vacantness on the moors,
in turn: suffocation.
All this gale of violence and madness,
not a single shiver,
but a private, intense burning sensation.

Would it set fire to the moors, the libraries,
and the red curtain theatre?
Or would it melt the defendant themselves?
I wish for the former,
yet I am already melting.

I put my hand on the gnomon-less sundial,
and still I stand alone
drunk on the all-consuming emotions
inflicted by these brick walls
or rather the crowds of unpredictability within them.

Take me with you to your Atlantis
Where hues of blue glisten in noons
For eternity we embrace in its promise

Are days of sober in crystallic bliss
Are nights of glacial comfort under mystic lunes
Take me with you to your Atlantis

Wash me into a tender kiss
Too soft to be witnessed but the full moons
For eternity we embrace in its promise

Beyond boundaries of mortality at this
ocean, through the skies and dunes
Take me with you to your Atlantis

Volumes and arks fill up the abyss
with painted tales of Atlantic ruins
For eternity we embrace in its promise

When love dreamily left only to reminisce
as the ink of Plato seeped in tunes
Take me with you to your Atlantis
For eternity we embrace in its promise

It's their way of living
that you have no right to judge
"It's spring and summertime.
Blossoming flowers along my jogging route.
Cherry blossom trees too."

"That's nice. We have a cherry blossom tree
at school as well."

"The flowers weren't blossoming last time I went jogging.
The cherry blossoms are only pretty for a couple of days.
The trees down there look so dead all the time.
They weren't dead last year when we moved here."
I wondered if I ought to take off my earpiece.

"Yes. I agree."

"Your father ought to stop buying junk."
"Yes, he ought to."
"Has your mother always been skinny?"
I nod and stir the same old *** of instant noodles.
I like my parents just the way they are.

Curiouser and curiouser.

"It's their way of living
that you have no right to judge."

We were meant to be.
Our paths crossed for a reason.
We were meant to be.
We met at the end of the season.
Our futures intertwined like the vines
crawling up the branches of pine trees and,
eternal touch and care,
one may crave, but what if it wasn't meant to be?
Farewells, not any one can bare
with ease for his is what we cannot see -
We are blind to passerbys.
Just say goodbye.
That's all.

Island to island and back
The latter I pray for yet lack
Is the question "when" or "if"?
For once, I see everything in a different light
The key to Heaven's gate is death, unless?
There is no unless... for now
For now, I am stranded
I miss h...

I can't breathe underwater
Nothing but sobbing silence underwater
Streams of tears or seawater?
Where do I go?
Nothing but an empty seabed
Soul sinks sober onto the seabed
Beloved, remember to breathe
Nothing but whales and silence
Nothing but wails

The howling wind gently pushed her along the dirt path,
her cloak lightly brushing against scattered pebbles,
into the forest that is known by little.
Perhaps in the hopes that no one could find her there,
nor remember her name when they do.
Most do not recognise this place.
Some who do know may say that the ones who enter are 'foolish'
She, like most, fears pain and hurt.
And thus, she enters.
There's no going back.
Foolish or not, she's made her choice.
She clenched the rims of her cloak
as she walks away, out of their lives, forever

You hurt me.
You stabbed me in the chest,
straight through my heart.
It aches.
It aches knowing I'm only a friend,
yet she is different.
Why can't it be me?
You hurt me.

How selfish this thought is.
Tomorrow, I will smile at you.
I will be happy for you.
I will be glad you have found love.
And if it doesn't **** me,
I'll smile and wave, as I start walking away.
Drifting farther away from your world
until I fade and become a distant memory.

If Romeo waited, he will see
that his true love Juliet was not dead but asleep.
If Cinderella waited at the bottom of the stairs,
her prince charming would never have left her foot bare.
If the young mermaid waited patiently,
perhaps the man will visit and avoid this tragedy.
If Snow White waited till the animals say
the apple was poisoned and turning gray.
If I keep on waiting for you,
will you, one day, love me too?

The leaves of a vine, always together
Inseparable, closer than ever
Flowers of memories blooming bright
Lively and joyous
Two little doves taking flight
With the help of each other
They roamed the skies
Snow white cloud's gentle greetings
The leaves of the trees waved back
Deep in the forests, something changed
Tigers growl, birds don't sing
A burning sensation heated the jungle
Spreading to every tree
Burning every vine
The flowers that once bloomed
were now black and withered
Doves of the sky went their separate ways
To save themselves
Without a goodbye or take care
Clouds darkened, hovering emotionlessly
The leaves rustled with annoyance
This is the end

Be strong, my dear.
The dangers of the world.
Uncountable.
Words sting sharp and accurate.
Wolves bite, tigers growl.
Ice breaks like the crystals of a heart.
Shattered pieces, scattered around.
Pick them up, my dear,
one by one.
Mend them together,
with the power of love,
be strong.

Beauty flared from petals of blood.
Hypnotising passionate love.
Blushing with heat fiery.
Beauty deceiving, darkness swallow.
Thorns sharp, deep scars.
Prickling with betrayal.
Howling with pain.
Revenge. Fury.
Beauty

Abundance laughter hides streams of tears,
a broken heart is shaded by cheers.
The happiest smile hides the saddest soul,
the people who love, their heart has a hole.
Giggles of fun hide the loneliness of one,
their painful wails are heard by none.
Delighted and joyful they seem to be,
but deep inside is a withering tree.

Along the riverside.
Tweeting of birds, joyously they sing.
Rushing of water, crystal clear.
The whistling wind speaks, the waving leaves answer.
The scent of nature. Indescribable.
Up in the sky, the eyes of baby blue.
Snow white clouds above greener lands,
they speak of a language we do not understand.

Dark sky, pouring rain.
I felt the heat from my computer under my fingertips
The occasional flash of lightning, roar of thunder.
Little snores escaped from the lips of a furry creature sound asleep.
Pitter patter, pitter patter.
The clicking of keys spell the words of my heart.
Endless sentences, wondering where to start.
The ticking of the clock, waiting for midnight's arrival.
Tick tock, tick tock.
A paradise in between the lines.
A gorgeous place where no one can find.
Where the scent of sea water lingers in the air.
Dark sky, pouring rain.