the night air is cold on my back; naked
white, glistening in moon's light
the glint of her silver combs my hair
caresses the cheek of all who dare gaze beyond
her lustrous face.

dotted by pearl freckles that pale her complexion,
brings beauty to nightfall.

o blissful treasure,
take me in my ascent
to your humble home
of crag and dust.

my celestial shore rests on the lunar frontier;
tucked in the embrace of space.

free spirit bound tightly.

the equivalent
of keeping a wild tiger
as a house kitty.

you may gag my mouth
you may bind my wrists
you may stimulate
you may penetrate

you may humiliate

but though i am your slave
I am still my own master.

i just want a kiss.
one movie scene kiss
something electric
something delicious
tongues intertwined
twisting in a wicked tango
arms wrapped around your neck -
like a koala on a tree
fingers running through my hair -
like a cheetah in wild plains

i just want a kiss.
explore my mouth,
you don't need a map -
don't hesitate -
just kiss me
make it work -
make it happen -

make me yours.

don't hold me so close
please, let me go.

i refuse to be owned
by you, by anyone

set this spirit free
before this girl goes home.

I felt like I shot myself that night,
When I blamed life for all of my problems.
I felt like I hung myself with the tough rope that dawn,
When I blamed the other for making me feel such strong emotions.
I felt like I choked myself on water,
Filling my lungs with it that day
I stared at Death in the eyes and he could only muster a raw cackle.
I do this to myself.

is there anybody out there
anybody
any body.
who experiences the pain i feel right
here.

Rosé
Tumbles down my throat
As I shove in M n' M's soon after.

I watch Gravity Falls in the meantime,
Wiping the teary mascara with a tissue -
And thinking:

"Wow. How did I get here?"

Hope.
With ugly, battering wings -
Fritters away its feathers in its cage.

It is the cage that encases my entrails.
It perches on my bones,
And its sweet tweets echo within

The nothing that is my body.
No, I won't be convinced by you today, little bird.
As if things will ever get any better.

Hope.
With its sharp, red beak.
Pecks away at me -

Until there's no lies to be said,
And no one to hear them.
No one at all.

I wanna eat something
but it won't fill me up
only drag me down.

The leaf latched onto the thin branch near the brook.
But even leaves, as simple as they are, know when to let go and trust the wind to take them.

Tired eyes carried the bags that sank
Descending on ones features,
All heavy and rounded,
Two moons once full became born
Anew.

"i can't do anything right"
she says to me

"You can do plenty."
I say to her.

"not really"
she says to me

"Well, you can be here with me."
I say to her.

"anyone can do that"
she says to me

"No. Only you."
I say to her.

will someone please **** my tired body
until i fall into a million pieces
and you pick me up and put
me together again just so
you can add another
line to the tally of
girls you ****?
you *******.
i hate you.

Starry night.
Little uneven polka dots -
Precious as pearls.

I fell in love with a star once.
But like the celestial marbles above,
He burned out before I could call him mine.

I make a wish on a dying star,
Knowing it'll never reach him.

That girl.
Lone, on the bays,
So beautiful
That she draws the tide
To near her
Just so the ocean
Could know her
Grace.

You are my life support.
And I am plagued by the past.

Call me beautiful like it's the only thing
Keeping me breathing.

Kiss me like you mean it,
Your love is my medicine.

You are my life support.
Be forever bound to me.

Liquor was meant to fill the hole
You drilled into my heart.
Your absence is clear.

And you tore off the patch when you left,
Letting my mind guzzle empty.
So it doesn't even matter.

I can drink,
And drink,
And drink,

But I can never be full.
Not again.
Not after you.

You.
Open me with your thoughts, you.
Untie me of my burdens instead of bounding my hands.

Miracle worker.
Enter me. Never leave.

i think i'm in love
with a man drunk on the moon
i think he's a wolf

this man,
and this woman.

this man,
and this man.

this woman,
and this woman.

this person,
and this person.

this love,
and this love.

shoreline littered

broken shells,

bits of seagrapes,

parts of a dead crab,

and footprints.

Be my friend and I will save your life.

Betray me once and I will spare it.

betray me twice and I will take it.

betray me thrice and
wow, carol,
did you really have to be a ***** today?
what is wrong with you.

I don't know much about you,
Handsome stranger,
And I shouldn't want to know you at all.

I love my lover, dear stranger.
You harbor no thought of me. And if such lust blooms,
I'm forced to wilt in guilt.

Adieu.

i sit here in this classroom,

detached.

away from the others
while the tutor's voice blends into the walls
and i fail to melt into it with others' ears.

Sweetie,

I'm sorry that I keep staring at the other boys.
And keep thinking of the other girls,

But if I'm being honest,

If you ever left me
Love would be a forgotten feeling
That I never want to reclaim.

I may crave the skin of others,
But my beating heart is in your hands.

**** the deadline.
****** the word limit.
maul the teacher.
tight sentences,
so concise,
stabs my heart
wasn't worth it at all.

When the smallest thing happens to me, I think:

"take my life away
just do it
i don't wanna be here anymore
like seriously,what the ****
kms."

sand sticks onto my legs
as i crawl out of the water.

stench of salt in my hair,
as i walk the shoreline.

french fry in gull's beak,
as i toss my food away.

god i love the beach.

I am the slither of fur in the night,
Glint of moonlight which captures the sleek
silver
of a cat's back
And the ghostly glow
of a cat's eyes.

My pursuit of happiness is caught in a cab,
and hell is my driver.

DON.
ka
DON DON.
ka
Repetitive rhythms,
Palms burning red.
All in unison, we bang the center -
And hit the drum's edge,

The audience
below
can feel the rumble
in their hearts:

Taiko.

There is a stillness preserved for sturdy buildings.

They contrast the nature that swings:
The shake of a tree,
The leaves that wiggle
And
t
  w
    i
  r
     l
off their twigs in the prettiest of ways.

- Yes, a concrete jungle is still a jungle
But there's no flutter, no movement, no beauty.

i'm sorry that me nervously tapping on the table
annoys you
sara,
but like,
it's not as if i can just
not
have anxiety
or anything.

Exam room.
Air as still as dead,
Then I hear it:
Pencil.
R o l l i n g off the edg
e -
But the person catches it just in time.

I sigh in relief.

i'm sorry.
the leftover pizza
hidden in the back of the fridge,
just looked so tasty.

- the smell of pepperoni still lingers on my shirt.

I don't mind when white people wear

cat ears.
seifuku.
kimono.
kanji slapped on shirts.
(even if they don't know what it means)

Culture can be an aesthetic.
Just as long as they appreciate it,
We're friends.

I bet that man,
he with his white cap,
smashed my box against the wall
as he so carelessly
dumped
my package on the doorstep.

The sweet scent of the air in spring makes me feel...


Disconnected.


Should I remember the flowers that bloomed?
Or past relationships that withered?

Perhaps my several trips to the seaside?
Or would I just drown in worries?

The comfortable combination of
Warm sunshine,
Cool breeze?
Or the painful sting of
Burning
Betrayal?

Though it is a new season, in a new year,
I can't help but feel aged with burden.

A thousand words written
On this pretty little layout
Of a cute minimal website,
Made of numbers and lines of code,
Made of people whose poems are told
Because now they have a place to go.

I paint the picture with pastel colors.
Dotting the sky in pink clouds
While the horizon lay in an amber slumber.
A single pine tree slanted towards the crystal lake;
I draw another for companionship.
And it soon blooms into a forest
With shrubs and blackberry bushes and ferns,
Then I make a ripple in the lake
With leaves that drift along the gentle current
To the farther edges of the tender loch.

I envisioned the clear waters of the wetlands
As I cleaned my pallet and washed away the paint,
Like how painting landscapes washed away my worries.

Mist may hide mountains,
But nothing covers my smile
When my eyes grasp you.

I missed the bus seconds after the last passenger boarded.

Now I sit here alone,
Waiting for another vessel
To drag me to my destination.

The air is cold,
And my heart is still thumping away
Due to physical exertion to reach the thing I missed -
But like everything else,
My hopes,
My dreams,
They're too far to reach.

I don't know how to end this
But mention the tiny speckle of headlights
And the roar of the large vehicle in the distance.
So now I think:
'There's always another bus.'

Late night Macca-run,
Busted up hand-me-down car
Rattling along the rocky road
With his warm hoodie draped around me
Like a toga with a Supreme sticker.

AC's turned off in traffic
As the night breeze is all we need
To enjoy this comfortable night
In his car, together.

I order a hot chocolate.
He orders a cheeseburger.
And we share the fries,
And I drain his pepsi
Until all there is
Is a pile of melted ice
And the soft pallet of knock-off cola
- in which both of us refuse to drink the leftover contents.

The cup is still warm in my hands,
And the car smells of fried food and cocoa powder.
His eyes are focused on the road,
While mine are focused elsewhere.

Soon,
He drops me home,
and ditches the trash.
And that was the end of our quiet late-night dinner-date.

You're not depressed.
You're just ******* yourself.
Take a day off,
Drink more water,
Works for me every time.
Better yet take a vacation.
Go to Bali for shopping spree,
The beach and the sun will do you good.
Change your diet, you lack iron, obviously.
Replace the word 'Anxious' with 'Excited'
- It will make you feel wholesome.
Take some yoga classes,
Buy yourself a cute puppy,
They increase endorphin levels.
Ice cream is cheaper than therapy! Eat some of that too.
There is also another cure - Jesus. Jesus loves you.
Cheer up, honey!
It's all in your head!
Don't let it affect you!
You're not depressed!
This is all t e m p o r a r y .

I wish I could fly
And visit all of my friends
Before they are gone.

I bathe in my past mistakes to remind myself that they are there.
    
            - The wine is hard to wash off my skin.

I ****** the stage with silence so the audience anticipates the articulation of words that soon spill out of my mouth.

The show lights blind my eyes so all I can see are headless ghosts sitting in rows, neatly compact in a spiritual communion.

My mind stutters, body shudders, yet the line is plain to see as it was painted on my lips - ready to perform, ready to be spoken.

Narration courses through my lungs to produce cornered speech, creating an introductory-zone for the others to encroach behind me

And there we were, separated into our own character beams while I stood with shallow confidence at the forefront.

Though I'm not a main lead,
or a side character,
or a set piece,
I am the narrator.
I carry the weight of the story,
And I carry the ears of those who listen.

Grey days are when the clouds puff a tantrum,
Smoking the sky out of its cozy, azure, play-space
With a big fuzzy blanket that covers the high plains,
And no holes for the blue to poke through.

Occasionally, they spout out their tears
And pelt the poor people below
With a loaded water pistol.

And such people sprout out umbrellas,
Or search for storm's shelter,

Yet one person always prefers to drown in clouds' melancholy.

Be not the Clown,
But the Joker.
Don't wear the pendant,
Wear the choker.

Please, take your time,
But only if you hurry.
However, do not stress,
Unless I tell you to worry.

**** yourself,
But **** me first.
Believe in fortune,
Believe you're cursed.

Look good in white,
Look great in black.
Come here tomorrow,
and never come back.

Vote one way and please vote the other.
Hate your rival, yet love their mother.
Take down notes and burn them all away,
Collect the ashes and do your chores for the day.

You gotta be smarter,
But you better be dumb.
Play the violin,
But bang the drum.

And the most important thing of all
Is to never take anyone's advice EVER.
- Because everyone on God's green Earth
Think they're so **** clever.