Isn't every day the same then
the slow-grinding hours at work in the city
waiting for the clock to  tick faster
the tedium, ennui and feelings close to misery?

how dreadful to get up in the early hours
(this winter is beyond endurance)
breakfast eaten in a hurry
to catch the 6-elevens

half-asleep in the train
(fearful to miss the stop--drowsy)
doleful and tired faces all around
(isn't everyone unhappy?)

irascible boss
stingy as hell
the office doesn't have enough heating
but none is brave enough to tell

lest he gets the flick
(this is recession-time, jobs are hard to come by)
no salary increase or annual bonus
all that you can do is to suffer in silence and sigh

long hours, no thanks from Mr Glum
(none dares take sick-leave)
Paul took two days and was shown the door
working conditions here are beyond belief.

week-ends---the same humdrum
too many beers and betting at the race
( Nancy threatens divorce---my losing spell)
my life is a dreadful failure---I am a total disgrace

return home at midnight after too much *****
broke, worry sick, can't sleep---how to survive
the next week?--Sammy lends money at 10% a week
I depend on him (he's a good friend) to stay alive.

You my friend told me the other day
'  Eh, mate--you have lost weight and look unwell'
  you John my dear friend are dead-right
   my life is worse than hell!

MIND

No science can unravel
the mystery of mind
brain-bred alone?
matter first
next--the insubstantial-
the fluidity of thinking that follows?
the chicken first
then the egg kind of reasoning?

but mind is infinite
and has no boundaries-
it can't be measured
or calibrated
MRI is mechanistic
and neurology is but a crude tool
they probe the physicality
but never touch the inner core
which cannot be detected or mapped
and all psychiatry is but guess-work
will o'-the-wisp and
the fancy of the shrink
who is hopelessly inadequate
and an object of pity
(doctor, heal thyself first!)

where  is the birth-place
of thought?

science is inferior to nature
what is unknowable far exceeds
the bounds of the known
mind--the eternal enigma

how is genius born?
how is the unspeakable articulated
through poetry, music and art?
how does the mind create such beauty
as to be beyond the bounds of human understanding
and experience? Isn't it then a mystery within mysteries
and makes reason mute and causes science to weep?

how does beauty so sublime arise
from the non-physical
which knows not its own abode?

the brain
is not the mind
and the mind is not the brain

which is superior then?
that which is beyond
the narrow straits of science
counts for infinitely more

They call me 'an idiot'
I stammer and with words I struggle
I am slow and have a an 'IQ so very low'
People to me are a puzzle.

They use strange words
My condition is 'congenital'
Others go even further
I suffer from a 'brain deficit'--'a disorder neurological'

But I can keep a job
Always hardworking and punctual
I dress neatly, know how to take the bus
My boss said 'Peter is not brilliant but reliable'

Dad minds the farm, mum takes care
Of my little brother Tom and Tanya my tiny sister
I give my parents half my monthly salary
So that my siblings will have a good education and further

Their studies perhaps in uni
There is always joy and warmth in the family
We share, we laugh, we sing and make merry
Despite what others say--I am happy, truly blessed and happy.

Tomorrow
we all say
there's no end to tomorrows

after all
we have time
so what's not done today
is carried forward
to the next day

it's work-in-progress
the final product
will come out somehow
wait until tomorrow

so convenient a word
tomorrow

we'll be still around
what then is the rush and hurry?
the sky won't fall off
we still have a job
we'll drink beer
and watch TV
have fun
let tomorrow
take care of itself

don't take a swipe
on tomorrow
it could mean
too many a sorrow

so have a thought
even a tiny one
there are not too many tomorrows
every past day
is a minus on the spectrum of time

think
what guarantee is there
you would rise to see
the sun tomorrow?

'Not now
because I'm not ready-
    another time'
  
  not now
when then?
   no answer-complete silence

how many moons have since gone by
   the tiny buds
have blossomed into full-blown roses

some others
have stolen
your prize

and you look on
in disbelief
in wild surprise

you can't contain yourself
and start looking for the next round
but find written on the wall ' nothing left now'

1

Because I was born into poverty
I learnt some of life's most valuable lessons

2

Because I don't over-rate my skills
I suffer from few disappointments

3

Because I could not flatter nor compromise
some people kept away from me

4

Because I recognise the ways of the world
I am not easily fazed

5

Because I know life is too short
I don't fritter time away in idle indulgence

1

Because I hurt others
I try to mend my ways.

2
Because others hurt me
I must accept that the world is made up of different kinds of people.

3   Because every person's opinion of me differs
I must accept that some would say things not  in my favour

4

Because it's not possible to read another's mind
I find it prudent to reserve my judgment

5

Because I know life is parsimonious
I don't ask for favours