Dewdrops
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Posted:Nov 5, 2008 4:39 am
Last Updated:Nov 20, 2008 6:06 am 2753 Views
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sparkling diamonds
dangling from the cusps
in the early morning light
Lee
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3
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Winter
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Posted:Nov 3, 2008 6:35 am
Last Updated:Nov 19, 2008 10:16 pm 3015 Views
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When the first flakes of snow slowly descend
To lay a white carpet upon the land
The deer, the wolves, the bears and all their friends
Depend on Mother Nature's gentle hand
The trees wearing a coat of fresh light snow
All immune to the biting wind and cold
Stand straight and tall like soldiers in a row
A wondrous sight to see and to behold
Upon this softly laid and tender bed
Countless snow angels lay their sleepy heads
Lee
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6
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Beach Party
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Posted:Oct 27, 2008 5:53 am
Last Updated:Nov 4, 2008 10:49 pm 3048 Views
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Picture courtesy of Photobucket - Artist Unknown
With the looming freeze of winter
The daunting cold of fall
The wife put me in a dither
With "Let's go play beach ball"
We cranked up the old jalopy
And headed for the beach
One G-string and a bikini
A can of suntan each
The sun was out, the surf was up
And bare bodies abound
I hope she did not hear me gulp
As I cast eyes around
So there we were in our glory
Paunches and boobs hung low
With hands held behind the fanny
To hide its overflow
It's clear that we were, to many
The objects of their lust
Thank gawd for plastic surgery
That all eyes were on us
Lee
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6
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Young In Cheek
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Posted:Oct 23, 2008 8:41 am
Last Updated:Oct 24, 2008 9:14 pm 2872 Views
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Early one bright spring morning
I was lazing in the creek
Now I can’t swim like lightning
And I am a wee bit meek
Stumbled on a big fat trout
Started to play hide and seek
Safe at home in father’s mouth
I could at last take a peek
“Go away you clumsy lout
You’re no match for one so sleek
My dad can beat any trout”
But fish breath, phew how it reeks!
Lee
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2
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Autumn
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Posted:Oct 19, 2008 10:55 pm
Last Updated:Jul 23, 2012 8:43 am 3134 Views
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Picture from MoonShadow
Motley colours of the forest top
Ablaze in daylight’s waning glow
As disgruntled leaves begin to drop
Onto cold bare ground way below
Busy squirrels along frost-covered path
Scurry for food as winter looms
Golden leaves in gentle winds waft
Over sad plants with forgotten blooms
Frost-covered branches beseech the sky
For sunshine, just a little longer
Perhaps this is the reason why
At times rises an Indian summer
Lee
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7
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Port Weld
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Posted:Oct 19, 2008 12:49 am
Last Updated:Jul 23, 2012 8:43 am 3159 Views
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One Sunday morning, after our usual stroll around the Taiping Lake Gardens, we decided to go to Matang for its famous crab porridge. When we arrived there however, we found that the porridge would only be available at noon and since the other coffee shops were closed as well, we then proceeded to nearby Port Weld or Kuala Sepetang as it is now known, to look for breakfast.
The coffee shops at Port Weld were open and we had a choice of seafood mee, curry mee, wan ton mee, etc. We decided on nasi lemak which was rice (cooked with coconut milk) to which was added curry prawns, fried fish, fried anchovies and sambal (ground chilly). The seafood was fresh and tasty.
After breakfast, we bought some fresh fish at the market which was situated near the site of the old railway station. The original Port Weld signboard was still there. It is the only signboard in Malaysia that is written in English, Chinese, Indian and Jawi! We then went around the village on our motorbike and stumbled upon the stone wharf that I had been to when I was around sixteen.
A few classmates and I had camped in the compound of Jal Prabhan’s house in Matang on one weekend in 1964. On Sunday morning, we had cycled to Port Weld to explore and ended up on this wharf. We spent the morning trying to catch some small swordfish in the river with our “net” which was a handkerchief with the four ends tied to raffia strings. Alas, the fish were either too smart or too fast for us and we wound up empty handed.
Port Weld was once the busiest port in the region. Tin ore from Taiping was transported here, using elephants, to be shipped to Penang for export. Then in 1885, the railway which connects Taiping to Port Weld was built. It was the first railway built in the then Straits Settlements and was thirteen kilometres long. Travel time was shortened to a few hours from two to three days.
My grandfather landed in Port Weld in the 1920s and he might have taken a ride on the train to Taiping but, most probably, he must have made the journey riding on a bullock cart, the main mode of transport back then and cheaper too. Or maybe, he could have ridden on an elephant!
Port Weld is now a small fishing village of wooden houses built close together on the bank of the river, Sungei Sepetang, with several wharfs where fisherman unload their daily catch and where salted fish can be seen drying in the sun. Some years ago, my , the missus and I had sailed in a fishing boat from Kampong Dew, a village on the outskirts of Taiping, to Port Weld and back at night to admire the fireflies which can be seen among the mangrove trees on both sides of the river. Occasionally, we could see the twin red eyes of the estuarine crocodile too! When we shone our torches onto the river, on both sides of the moving boat we could see shrimps everywhere hopping out of the water like tiny kangaroos! To this day, I am not sure whether the shrimps were startled by our boat or were racing with us.
Port Weld is also famous for the Mangrove Swamp Preserve Park situated just outside the village. It has a 250 metres long wooden boardwalk built over the swamp whereby one can take a walk through the mangrove forest and also chalets for visitors to spend the night. The mangrove forest stretches for 52 kilometres and occupies an area of about 100,000 acres! One can get a boat ride for a tour of the scenic mangrove forest, to watch cockle breeders harvest their catch or to visit Kuala Sanggar, another fishing village situated at the nearby river mouth, to look at the floating cages used for breeding fish there.
The mangrove swamps form an important buffer zone between the sea and the shore, absorbing the shocks of waves and even tsunamis. It is also the home of the Mangrove Crab or Mud Crab. With its sweet firm flesh and delectable orange-red eggs, I love it cooked any style, be it Black Pepper Crab, Chilly Crab or Curry Crab.
Lee
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5
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Interlude
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Posted:Oct 10, 2008 7:20 pm
Last Updated:Oct 13, 2008 10:55 pm 3017 Views
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Alone in the forest
I wanted to be
Away from the rest
To be alone with me
With the trees around me
Protecting like guards
From the world I am free
I am alone at last
Immersed in my thoughts
Of all that had been
The fights that I had fought
The sights that I had seen
The things that I had done
Those that I can be proud
The deeds that had gone
That I cannot say aloud
Softly out of nowhere
Creeps the morning light
To chase away my cares
And fill me with delight
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6
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The 3 Seasons
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Posted:Oct 8, 2008 1:48 am
Last Updated:Oct 17, 2008 11:33 pm 3214 Views
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Winter
sentries in white coats
with frost covered bare branches
motionless in rows
I have seen rows of frost covered trees just once in Canada. It was so peaceful and serene that the memory of it lingers on.
Spring
buds and new shoots sprout
specks of green peek out
creeping warmth with rainy bouts
Spring is the time when life rejuvenates!
I have seen spring both in Canada and China. The sights of brown patches of land turning green day by day, buds emerging on bare branches, shoots slowly sprouting and trees completely covered with brightly coloured flowers in the fine misty rain remain forever etched on my memory.
Summer
In my country, it is summer all year round so summer does not intrigue me enough to inspire me.
Autumn
clinging stubbornly
all alone and desolate
the last leaf of fall
Every autumn, there is always the last leaf to fall. It announces the onset of winter.
This reminds me of a Chinese movie that I have watched a long time ago. It was the love story of a poor young taxi driver whose childhood love was to be married to a rich old man when he returns to the village from America in the winter.
The young man watched anxiously as summer turned into autumn and the leaves of the big tree in the courtyard began falling. Then one morning, from his window, he could see that there was only leaf left at the top of the tree ‒ the last leaf of fall.
In a desperate attempt to prevent the onset of winter, the young man climbed up the tree with the intention of tying the leaf with a string but just as he was about to do that, the leaf broke off and slowly fluttered to the ground........
Lee
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10
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Haikus?
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Posted:Sep 24, 2008 10:36 am
Last Updated:Oct 1, 2008 11:13 pm 3174 Views
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I wrote my first haiku called "First Haiku" at the end of August and there were three friendly queries as to whether it was actually a haiku or not. So, I decided to enter it in a Haiku contest in a Poetry site. When I found out that two entries were required, I wrote another haiku called "Seasons".
First Haiku
First love ‒
Stolen glances
Nervous thrills
First date ‒
Romantic dinner
Separate bills
First heartbreak ‒
Copious tears
Body shudders
First recovery ‒
New girl
Heart flutters
Seasons
Summer ‒
Sandy beaches
Barbecue
Autumn ‒
Forested hills
Golden hue
Winter ‒
Stunning vistas
White cover
Spring ‒
Robin redbreast
Colourful flower
Guess what? They are both Honourable Mention Winners.
Encouraged, I continued to write:
Sentinel ‒
Motionless
Up on lofty perch
A flurry of colours
Amongst the flowers -
Butterfly
This was a finalist in another contest.
By now you must be wondering what haiku is all about.
From what I have gathered, a few hundred years ago, some Japanese poets while enjoying the beauty of the cherry blossoms, and most probably inebriated from drinking all that sake, decided to have a contest to see who can best describe the scenery in 3 lines and they call it haiku. That’s why early Japanese haikus are mostly about the seasons and nature.
Conjuring up an image in 3 short lines ‒ that is what makes writing haiku so challenging!
But now, there is a lot of confusion about haiku. Some think only clear and simple words should be used while others prefer big words and metaphors; some think that the 17 syllables in the 5,7,5 format should be strictly followed but others think that haiku in English should only be between 10 to 12 syllables.
As for me, I prefer to write the way I like. After all, there is no bad poetry, just poetry that I like and poetry that others like.
Winter
Ethereal ‒
Fluffy white
swirling around barren tree
September Rain
Silvery splashes ‒
Howling winds swirling
Tree ‒ tops dancing
Purity
Purity ‒
White lily
in the spring rain
This is also an Honourable Mention winner.
So, out of 7 haikus that I wrote, there were 3 Honourable Mention winners and 1 finalist. Not bad for a haiku novice. Maybe one day, I will win at least a bronze medal.
Lee
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5
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Have You Ever Wondered ....
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Posted:Aug 30, 2008 7:17 am
Last Updated:Aug 23, 2010 7:28 am 3348 Views
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Have you ever wondered ....
Where butterflies spend the night?
In the open, wild and free?
Or seeking shelter from the cold, wind and rain
Perhaps hanging inside a tree?
Have you ever wondered ....
When the tree-tops dance
To the rhythm of the wind
What is it that the wind whispers to the trees
Above all that din?
Have you ever wondered ....
From where the wind comes
And to where does it blow?
Wouldn't it be great if we could see the wind
Painted the colours of the rainbow?
Have you ever wondered ....
If the rainbow
Is a bridge in the sky
For us to cross over to Heaven
When we die?
Have you ever wondered ....
Why the sky is blue
Except when there's rain?
Is it possible that those tiny raindrops
Have washed off all the paint?
Have you ever wondered ....
Where rain clouds come from
And why they don't run dry?
Are they formed by those thick mists in the morning
Drifting up into the sky?
Have you ever wondered ....
Why birds sing in the morning
To welcome the sunrise?
Are they aware that without the sun
It'll be our demise?
Have you ever wondered .... why we wonder?
Lee
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9
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