I was just a small child,
though from a very poor family,
I had two brothers and a sister,
but we did live happily

My father was a fisherman,
catching fish every day,
to feed his family best he could,
he knew no other way

We lived in a village,
one day disaster struck,
'twas in Thailand in Phuket,
the tsunami came, we had no luck

My whole family was wiped out,
the only one left was I,
all my friends were also lost,
and all I could do was cry

I wished that I had also died,
then all of us would still be together,
but why was god so uncaring,
why was I left to suffer?

Subtle washing of the brain,
unlike its laundry counterpart,
does proceed with patience and slowness,
to invisibly change the mind and heart;
In minutes or an hour,
The laundromat will be all done,
but sophisticated brain washing,
takes a longer time to finish its run.

Some nights the degrees dropped below zero,
Heavy snow rained down to the ground below,
Covering homeless tramps bundled and old
On sidewalks shivering with freezing cold

Some luckless beggars sleep on parks' benches,
Forever trapped by penniless fences,
A handful few will not survive till dawn
Not even when the final ice is gone

Each one of us is just a tiny speck,  
A grain of sand upon an endless beach,
Battling with problems from an angry sea,    
And living together seems out of reach.  

Every day we work and move in numbers,  
Inside we are always living alone,  
Outwards there are clocks and fancy watches,  
But inwards, we live in a timeless zone.  

Now though each of us is a tiny speck,    
A grain of sand upon a friendless beach,  
With reason, patience and an open mind,    
Togetherness  is within our reach.

Out from the trees it came in sight,
Weaving lightly and blinking bright,
I watched it drawing ever near,
A tiny phantom of the night,
And the thought wandered in my mind,
With its tiny lantern did it find,
Whatever it was searching for,
Before it joined its ghostly kind?

Shining pearl in sky
Dreamers’ and lovers’ delight
Please don’t go away

A simple hand gesture,
Done in the correct way,
Can replace words and thoughts,
Of what we want to say.

A sudden downpour
People rushing round like mad
The wet look is back

It is plainly annoying,
When thinking is entangled
In the cobwebs of the mind,
For thoughts that are muddled up,
Are so unpleasant too I find.

They were just new-born baby snowflakes
heavy raindrops splashing on the walls
half an hour later fully grown
and falling like fluffy cotton *****

It snowed heavily for half a day
The snowflakes falling without a sound
everything slowly changed to white
rooftops, treetops, bushes and the ground

Such a beauteous stunning scenery
was thrilling to capture all in mind
for a joyous glorious little while
snowflakes make me leave my cares behind

Temptation is a daily threat
It has many friends all around
Discipline will keep it in check
And keep self-control safely sound

I’ll do it tomorrow
is what I said today

That’s what I said yesterday
for today

And what I said two days ago
for yesterday

But I know

one day
Tomorrow will come

and I will do it

somehow

I should really do it now

and not wait

but what harm is there

if I’m one day late ?

I was going to do it

I was really going to do it

I know I will do it

Probably tomorrow.

Each of us is wrapped up snugly like a cocoon,
Living in our own world of security,
And any excursion into the outside world,
Is a threat to our fragile tranquility.

All childhood events and parental upbringing.
Have determined our daily thoughts and actions.
It will require an extremely open mind.
And courage to manage our variations.

From the very moment we are born,  
Until the time that we shall be gone,  
Obliged are we to follow the pace,
Of Good versus Evil in their race.  
So we came and saw the signs of light,  
Growing up, we learnt of day and night,
Suppressing the good in us, we’ll find,
Evil takes us in the twilight mind.

Covid-19 has changed our lives
Our usual way of living is no more
for the deathly virus has firmly kicked
normalcy outside the door

We have to get used for now
to change our lifestyle and to try
adjusting daily as much as we can
stubbornness will lead to simple live or die

It is a winter's very cold sad Sunday today,
thick mist everywhere and the sky a blanket of grey,
no darting squirrels, no chirping birds, no pigeons in flight,
and no playing children, no shouts, no laughter in sight,
most neighbouring families seem homebound,
while in the courtyards and gardens nary a sound,
cars are parked neatly in all  their usual places,
unlike other days, there are no empty spaces,
the roads are eerily empty of people walking about,
except for a couple of dog walkers who are out,
so until the morning mist clears and the sky turns blue,
I'll just watch TV with others doing the same thing too.

Are trees shivering
For snow is covering them
Icicles are cute

She is very sad
She was feeling sad for months
Her loved ones all gone

The sky is so blue,
And the clouds are very white,
It won’t rain today.

Looking upwards one sunny day,
I saw white clouds in the sky,
They were bright and cotton soft,
Drifting slowly, just passing by.

The clouds were really graceful,
Changing slightly here and there,
I found them ever so peaceful,
As they sailed along without a care.

Their beauty made me think of you,
I wondered if you were serene,
As the clouds that were gliding by,
My love, I wondered how you’ve been.

He was walking his dog in the park that day,
And paused by the fountain where the pigeons play,
There he fell and then vanished without a trace,
Leaving his dog to bark at his empty space.

The police searched all over for him in vain,
His family was drowned in sorrow and pain,
No one knew exactly what happened to him,
The chances of finding him were pretty slim.

After seven years all hope began to fade,
For everyone thought that he was really dead,  
Suddenly he appeared at the place he fell,
Everyone was overjoyed he looked so well.

They were dismayed he couldn’t explain a thing,
He’d no memory at all of anything,
But one day he vanished once more in the rain,
And then this time he never came back again.

Clock striking midnight
Eerie silence in the air
Hide under the bed

The moon is rising
Fully round and truly bright
Hounds and wolves wailing

I am lost,
and more than that,
I have lost everything

I was caught
that morning when I was out
hunting for food nearby
to bring back to my family

I can still hear them cry

I was trapped
with other birds
and transported
to a distant land
and locked up in a cage

with some water and some sand

I am watered and I am fed
but I don't belong here
for my heart is in constant pain
knowing I will never see
never be
with my family again

please just let me go home

Postcard scenes of sunny desert sands,  
Rainbow mountains and grassy green lands,    
Gentle seas with sail boats far and near,  
Glowing skies so blue and bright and clear;  

Lamp posts, lanterns and flickering lights,  
Shining moons and clouds and star-filled nights,    
Gardens with fountains and waterfalls,  
Painted figurines and crystal *****;

Nature’s treasures flourish everywhere,    
Man’s arts and paintings are always there,  
All these beauty so easy to find,  
Leave me ever peaceful in my mind.

It is a blend of here and there,
Nowhere and everywhere,
People, events and places,
A merger of familiar and strange faces,
A world distinct from the one we're in,
No heaven or hell, purity or sin,
Facts are distorted into fantasy,
A combination of myth and reality,
Where death does not exist,
A surreal kind of life will persist
And the dream world will then be gone,
When we wake from sleep at dawn.

It was the morning after
A long and snowy night,
I looked outside the window,
And beheld a wondrous sight.

The world was still and silent,
Not a human soul in sight,
No bird was flying, nothing stirred,
All just silently white.

Rooftops, trees and gardens all,
Layered with snow so high,
Cottoned flakes still drifted down,
Softly, gently, from the sky.

Stillness wove its charming spell,
The silence shared its peace,
If all this beauty will survive,
I can pass my days with ease.

It's always so very, very easy,  
All the flaws in others, for us to see;
When we look for flaws, they will always show,
Everywhere we look, we can see them grow;
Our own flaws though, we are  often blind,  
Yet they are always there, for us to find;
So criticism, we should keep in line,
For everyone has flaws like yours and mine

Showing off is always such a pain,
In the neck, also you-know-elsewhere,
It’s a sign of insecurity,
And doesn’t impress nor here nor there

A dozen dull things he has to do
A dozen dull decisions he has to make
A dozen dull hours are all he has
For the dull actions he has to take

That is his daily dull routine
Working from nine to five
A dozen dull months each year
That is the dull story of his life

Now he is just weary of it all
And he deeply yearns to find a way
To climb out from the timeless trap
To free himself from dullness one fine day

The thought drifted slowly to my mind,
Still dull and woozy in my head,
That surely must be coffee I thought,
While lolling in my bed.

I waited for my sleepy head to clear,
For my senses to gather there,
Such a fragrant feeling waking up,
With the scent of coffee in the air!

A poem is never perfect,
Just like everything,
The poet has to check,
Check and counter-check,
It needs constant editing.

Most people follow blindly like goats do,
Never really think hard of things right through,
So easy are the ways to just follow,
Even if everything is plain shallow;

This is all that's right and all that is wrong,
Speak the same words, also sing the same song,
Enjoy the smiles and nods of knowing folks,
Follow them, eat egg whites, throw out the yolks;

All go to bed at ten and wake at six,
That's the way to get daily healthy fix,
So see if you can really, really dare,
Turn away from the usual here and there;

And do your own thing different from all,
Root yourself firmly, don't follow the fall,
To be different will take a lot of nerve,
To follow your own path, to never swerve.

And then,

Sneers and looks and glances many unkind
You may get from the herd you left behind.

It is a joy that we can all connect,
Exchanging thoughts in fact and fantasy,
And we can remind the world to react,
With Understanding, Love and Empathy

The golden globe retires to bed,  
Its colour changing to brilliant red,  
It’s going to sleep with regal grace,  
And multi colours will take its place;  
Then this awesome wonder in the sky,  
Will soon disappear without a sigh,  
As I watch entranced the glorious end,  
The parting of a celestial friend,  
I will etch this beauty in my mind,  
So the night so long will be so kind.

The throaty croaks of the after-rain frogs,
Hidden in the damp dark garden,
Calling and answering one to other,
While a few creatures silently listen,
The water drops linger on dampened leaves,
And the night crickets add their say,
In some fireflies' lights they glisten,
A finishing touch after a rainy day.

It is four in an autumn morning,
I sit in the dark by the window,
Just watching the sleeping world below.

Nearby high-rise flats stand tall and black,
A few corridor lights bristling bright,
Do the trees and bushes sleep at night?

A soothing silence does scent the air,
The lamp-lit roads all quiet and bare,
I'm really happy to sit and stare.

I know for myself just what I need,
Are ten minutes of quiet and peace,
And then my mind will be back at ease.

I long to be up in the clouds,
To float upon their peaceful shrouds,
To dwell amongst the dewdrops cool
Dozing in their feathery wool,
Where raindrops gain their early life
Ere their growing earthward dive;

I long to be on mountains high,
Where ice-cold breezes gently sigh,
Where the snow flakes soft and gentle
Spread their friendly snow-white mantle;
Where darting rabbits shake their fur
And lazy mountain kittens purr;

I long to be where angels fly,
Where lanterns light the deep dark sky,
Where rainbows spread their kingly hues
And heavenly spheres leave mystic views;
To gaze on beauty no world has known
To wean such joys no world has sown.

If only I could really find,
A simple way to leave the cares behind
And be amongst Her trees and flowers
Where time is all of pleasant hours,
I would take you there so we would be
Just two of us, just you and me!

Do know that we are not the same,
We grew up in different ways,
But if we feel for each other,
We can live out all our days.

He was never afraid,
To walk the daily paths alone,
He followed what he thought was right,
For his life was his very own.
Of course he could succeed,
Or he could very well just fall,
But he was keenly satisfied,
To overcome alone each wall.
So he was not afraid,
To be different from all the rest,
He knew that all he had to do,
Was for always to do his best.

We cannot always expect others  
to think or do like how we would do,  
for what 's correct thinking for oneself  
may not be the same for others too.  

Often we're puzzled why a person,  
Has wrong thoughts or does a certain act,  
but then, the behaviour that is wrong,  
for whom is it really incorrect?  

Our thinking is the total sum,  
Everything that we have ever learnt,  
but not all people learn the same things,  
so some souls survive while some get burnt.  

Be tolerant of variations.  
Be thoughtful and kind to one and all,  
So  we don't overstress ourselves,  
Until we hear our final call.

Sunlight through the leaves of trees,
Shining streams of golden rays,
A lovely tropical scene,
Promises of sunlight ways.

Each light stream was dynamic,
Aglow with aspirations,
Like children's smiles of brightness,
Spreading varied emotions.

If sunlight could be bottled,
And shared with everyone,
We will all have sunlight days,
Even times when there are none.

It is four in an autumn morning,
I sit in the dark by the window,
Just watching the sleeping world below.

Nearby high-rise flats stand tall and black,
A few corridor lights bristling bright,
Do the trees and bushes sleep at night?

A soothing silence does scent the air,
The lamp-lit roads all quiet and bare,
I'm really happy to sit and stare.

I know for myself just what I need,
Are ten minutes of quiet and peace,
And then my mind will be back at ease.

I dream of wandering into a paradise,
Where people are ever gentle, kind and wise,
Where everyone lives in peace together,
Regardless of race, religion and gender;

Violence and hate do not exist,
No one behaves like a deranged beast,
And Nature blends with human kind,
While beauty dwells in every mind;

Smiles are rampant with one and all,
Love is written on every wall,
I dream of wandering into a paradise,
Where people are ever gentle, kind and wise.

It is a blend of here and there,
Nowhere and everywhere,
People, events and places,
A merger of familiar and strange faces,
A world distinct from the one we're in,
No heaven or hell, purity or sin,
Facts are distorted into fantasy,
A combination of myth and reality,
Where death does not exist,
A surreal kind of life will persist,
And the dream world will then be gone,
When we wake from sleep at dawn.

In summer when the sun burns hotter
Than flames in the fireplace,
Do you feel the blazing heat?

And when winter snow bites colder
Than ice cubes in the fridge,
Do you shiver and turn blue?

Do you feel the heat and cold
Strong and steady that you are,
With your leaves so bright and bold?

We must accept that not all of us,
Will always completely agree,
For we are all different and unique.
We are not all parts of the same old tree.
We may sometimes be criticised,
In many thoughts and actions that we do,
But all the decisions that we make,
In our own minds should be true.