Life is full of empty words
You meet them everyday
Real sentiments are often missing
Despite what their owners say;

Condolences and compliments
Are often voiced with falseness
Just made to follow the norm
Of courtesy and correctness;

Better to prefer the silence
Of genuine heart-felt feelings
Than empty words of shallowness
Forgotten after a few meetings

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.

If you should see a dragon in the sky,
You had better take another look,
Because dragons do not exist,
Except in fairy tales or in a book.

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.

He was suspended in flight,
Poised as if time stood still,
Golden wings a fluttering,
Outlined against the distant hill.

Swooping in the evening sun,
Wings outspread in glory;
As our ship sailed away,
The seagull followed closely,

Darting smoothly back and forth,
Following the foamy wake,
Its keen eyes always searching,
For floating morsels to take.

And it grew ever smaller,
A princely bird in flight,
It dipped a final farewell,
Then went in the fading light.

We were so happy
She and I

Spent all our time together
Flew together
Looked after each other

And then
She fell sick and died

She lay there
In our nest
With eggs unhatched

She wanted a family
But time ran out

So still and lifeless
I watched helplessly
Unable to help

I called to her
There was no reply

Just silence in death
No more happiness
No more flights together

We were so happy
She and I

All is gone
So now I will wait
For the day I die

Arrogance is the weakness trait,
Of the lout and big bully,
It often imposes itself,
On each and everybody:
Humbleness in deep contrast,
Prefers the state of tranquillity,
It has no need to offend,
It shines with simplicity.

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

Are trees shivering
For snow is covering them
Icicles are cute

Desktop and laptop
Filing, networking, designs
Technology here

Everyone has secrets to hide,
Their real feelings they dare not show,
Which often lead to misunderstandings,
And sometimes a deadly blow.

Not so wonderful the world today ,
For madness has surely come to stay,
Goodness no longer is in the store,
Evil slowly kicked it out the door;
Intelligence seems so hard to find,
Stupidity always close behind,
World wars linger always on the brink,
Closer than what we would want to think;
No matter what all religions teach,
Love and Peace are always out of reach.

Even as a small child  
I had liked to believe,  
That the fat man in red  
Had many toys to give,    
To make all the children  
Happy on Christmas Eve;  

For on this holy night  
Santa is not a lie,  
And children everywhere  
Will be watching the sky,  
To see if Santa Claus  
And reindeer will pass by;  

But it's not a big deal  
If it's a fairy tale,  
Adults need something too  
when happiness is frail,  
And Santa brings a smile  
Like Christmas cards in mail.

“My name is Bond, James Bond”

With that said, the scene is set,
For violent villains to not forget,
That universal crime does not pay,
When Double-O-Seven is on his way.

And female hearts will flutter,
Their defences melting like butter,
Watching their hero battling world-wide,
With a walther ppk by his side.

At the end, the whole world can then relax,
When all the bad guys have been taken,
With ice-cold ***** martini,
Not stirred - but quite well-shaken.

They were tiny bright lanterns,
Looking  like some fairy lights,
Dancing around the tree tops,
Appearing on summer nights;

They chased each other around,
But they didn't stay too long,
Then they switched off all their lights,
And they were finally gone;

They put on a lovely show,
Most enchanting for the eyes,
They will come out now and then,
The night's dancing fireflies.

Dogs were barking blatantly
Cats were mewing meekly
Cows were mooing moodily
Horses were neighing nosily
Goats were bleating briefly
Hens were clucking constantly
And frogs were …….  just croaking

Apart from these ……….

The farm was very quiet actually

Outside, the sea was black, as was the night,
All was quiet, just a lonely, fisherman’s light,
As unseen waves washed the unseen shore,
So my thoughts grew graver, more and more.

The black, though so peaceful, was tinged with gloom,
A wistful solitude hovered in my room,
And I thought of us till the lamp was gone,
Then waited in silence for the light at dawn.

I drew the paths that I should walk,  
Through countless barriers on the way,  
The ideas mine were not in vogue,  
They were not ideas of the day.  

‘Til now I have survived the fears,  
Of loving friends who had in mind,  
The wellness of my well being,  
All their doubts were meant to be kind.  

But I have walked the paths alone,  
My final stop nearly arrived,  
My alien ways have cost me dear,  
For some loved ones have been deprived.

When the sun is hot
And a cool wind is blowing
It's comfortable

Somewhere within the world that we live in,  
Secretly hidden fully to mankind,  
Is a beautiful, magical domain,  
Almost impossible for us to find.  

Leprechauns there plant pots of gleaming gold,  
Reigning rainbows shine continuously,  
Butterflies and singing birds entertain
Sunny days and starry nights serenely.  

In this unchanging peaceful paradise,  
Mystic elves, gnomes and fairies frequent there,
These tiny folks live in honeyed houses
Amidst bright flowers blooming everywhere.  

So if by chance you spy a gnome or an elf,
Try to find out where he’s taking himself.

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?

Climbing stairs was so much fun,
When I was six, seven, eight plus one,
I was full of energy on the run;

After fifty, sixty, seventy one,
Climbing stairs is no more fun,
So I use the lift like everyone.

He juggles sticks, bottles, hats and *****,
Catching them all, nothing ever falls,
Confident as could be,
His act a sight to see,
Performing in streets and shopping malls.

The distant sky was gray
Above me the sun was weakly shining
Weather prediction was a wet day
Heavy rain was surely coming
I see the gray wall drawing nearer
And the landscape quickly turning blur
While the sound of rain was gettiing clearer
The storm is almost here

There was a fierce fighting kangaroo,
Which punched people until they were blue,
Though he was very strong,
He stayed in rain too long,
And now he’s down in the bed with ‘flu.

Slowly, slowly the seeds of discontent we sow
More and more daily we make them grow
Till we have the Tree of Hatred in the final show

When anger flares up
Short-changing the mind,
Regret comes later
For remarks unkind.

Many water drops
Falling all over just now
A puddle is born

This early morning I got out of bed,
Found it was zero degrees centigrade,
And the air outside was crispy and cold,
A candid crispness had taken hold,
Feeding a feeling of freshness at play,
Surrounding this wonderful winter’s day;
Outside I saw rooftops covered with snow,
Also the shrubs in the gardens below,
Icing was on green leaves and trim tree tops,
And parking spaces where the squirrel hops,
A scene to keep in memory always,
When I do deviate to depressing days.

When many truths are known
Horrors sometimes abound
To avoid the unpleasant
Lies become seemingly sound
The need for some order
To soothe the fearful mind
Blind belief is often called
To leave the unknown behind

Once again I watched the ships from far,
Steaming into the evening's crimson sky,
While passing closer to sandy land,
The fishing boats were slowly sailing by;
Some old folks were strolling on the beach,
And the quiet beauty of land and sea,
Brought back memories of simple joys,
Once again they awoke the child in me.

Falling fast asleep
Mind takes off for foreign lands
Dreams and nightmares here

I was in the midst of doing something,  
When I heard the phone in the room ringing,  
So I stopped my work to answer the call,  
And when I went back I couldn’t recall,  
Whatever it was I had been doing.  

I had gone to the post office to send,  
A mail that I had written to a friend,  
But when I reached to take out the letter,  
I realised it was  left in my sweater,  
Which I’d given to the tailor to mend.  

So these are just two incidents needing
Attention like a garden needs weeding,  
Because when we get more advanced in age,  
It gets easier to forget the page,
Of the what-was-it that we were reading.  

Forgetting things often can be so sad,  
And with ourselves we really get mad.

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.

Jane would eat five hamburgers for fun
When her usual daily work was done
But she did eat too much
And became fat as such
So she reduced her burgers to none

Setting sun and dwindling daylight¸
celestial colours fading fast,
the horizon a delightful sight,
with the growing greyness,
the beauty only minutes will last;
Mysticism mopes the air, and
tinges of sadness and happiness
everywhere, and homeliness,
while seemingly serene,
morphing with memories,
sentiments and thoughts,
rend a numbing nostalgia of sorts;
Thus will twilight gradually present
the grimly gentle night’s descent

I think we’re in a fallen world,
If not we are arriving there,
Decency has been eroded,
You can just see that everywhere.

What happened to Intelligence,
That which has always existed?
And why in so many areas,
Love has given way to Hatred?

Decency and  Understanding,
Wherever did these fellows go?
Patience for us selves and others,
Is becoming lower than low.

Courtesy is on its way out,
And Rudeness is taking its place,
Thinking is getting ever warped,
Vulgarity has kicked out Grace.

Greed has constantly been the king,
Stupidity is on the rise,
Idiocy is born each minute,
Few things now are happy or nice.

So with all these thriving Madness,
That is exploding everywhere,
I think we’re in a fallen world,
If not, we are arriving there.

Little Monkey was up and about,
“What a glorius day!” he would shout,
For as with all youthful beings,
Each day is an adventure new;
No worries, no problems,
Or maybe just a few,
Nothing however to be depressed,
‘tis the wondrous gift of youth,
Innocence with which they’re blessed

I’m really extremely sad,
And with me I’m also mad,
I made you in my image.
Thinking you’d be free and sage,
But somewhere along the line,
Things did turn out not so fine,
You seem evil through and through,
That’s not how I did make you,
Heed my warning one and all,
You are heading for a fall.

For every coin that has a head,  
Turn it round it will have a tail,  
Every positive thought that exists,    
A negative will make it fail;  
For every attack you can devise,  
The enemy can plan a defence,  
And there will always be two sides,  
For each and every sentence;  
Just like nothing is forever black,    
Nothing is always white, no way,  
So let us think with moderation,  
So that we can appreciate the gray.

The little monkeys asked their elders,
Why Evil on earth never ends,
Mankind seems quite incapable,
For everyone to live as friends.

Earthly souls are so corrupted,
And goodness is seldom known,
For Evil has triumphed as usual,
Since the first day that it was sown.

Why is Cruelty abundant,
Why is everything so unfair,
Why do all poor people suffer,
Aren't there good folks anywhere?

Alas the wiser elders did reply,
Mankind souls have been seduced,
By Material things and Self-love,
Real Love has sadly been reduced.

If there is ever real Justice,
In this world that we all live in,
Everything can still be alright,  
If Morality will reign supreme.

In silence I watched the lights below,  
In lonely houses in evening’s glow,  
Other lights were scattered all around,  
North, south, east and west, they could be found.  

A bike was passing and then a car,  
Tall buildings were standing not so far,
Silhouettes they formed against the sky,  
And somewhere uttered a lonesome cry.

The summer’s night was cool and serene,
With its portrait of a country scene,  
And I felt so peaceful, I felt fine,  
While slowly sipping my glass of wine.  

Quiet beauty there will always be,  
For each of us who will really see.

So we came into our world,
Each of us, inwardly alone,
Even if with a sibling twin,
We're alone in mind, flesh and bone

All throughout our daily lives,
Living with families and friends,
Together for many a while,
Outward company never ends

But when we get to near the end,
Beckoned  to a different zone,
We will then exit our world,
Each of us, inwardly alone.

With billions of people on this land,
Each person is but a grain of sand;

So alone he lingers sadly on,
With memories too dreadful to bear,
Alone she suffers with wretched thoughts,
No one her burden to really share;

Impotence surrounds, scarce are true friends,
Relief is really found when life ends.

The lines appear on aging faces,  
Alongside corners of the mouth,  
And neck's skin follow the chickens',  
The skin gets more flabby further south.  

Growing fat appears externally,  
We try not to look in mirrors,  
The images may seem unkind,  
And many may give us the shivers.  

However we can always adjust,  
With healthy eating and exercise,  
To maintain our youthfulness,  
so our lives will be more precise.  

And we must always think young again,  
Thinking old  we surely must abstain.

There was a fierce fighting kangaroo,
Which punched people until they were blue,
Though he was very strong,
He stayed in rain too long,
And now he’s down in the bed with ‘flu.

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.