Life is not a prison
|
Posted:Jun 6, 2008 6:10 am
Last Updated:Aug 18, 2008 3:51 am 3079 Views
|
This is an updated version of a reply I made last year in response to a poem done by a depressed youth on her feelings of total hopelessness.
Life is not a prison
So tell me why you shout
And ask God to listen
When others are about
Climb high to view your dreams
Ride on the wave of hope
If you fall, get up again
No matter how steep the slope
We all need a window
To see the road ahead
The future may be scary
But it's not what we dread
It is painful to watch
Those who lock themselves away
Joy, love and happiness
Grow slowly day by day
Strong is good, weak is bad
Be it false, be it true
The strong also have weaknesses
The weak have strengths too
Norms are set by society
With guidelines to follow
These are for everyone
Us and every other fellow
For most, life's a routine
And at times can be boring
Resolutely, we carry on
No, we are not pretending
Sometimes there's pain, sometimes joy
As we go on life's ride
Sometimes happy, sometimes sad
There is no need to hide
Can you see what life's about?
It's not just about ourselves
It's about love, hope, compassion
For us and everybody else
There's light at the end of the tunnel
To help you find your way
Hope at the end of the path
To pull you through each day
Lee
|
|
|
8
Comments
|
|
Have You Ever ...........
|
Posted:Jun 1, 2008 4:07 pm
Last Updated:Aug 26, 2008 7:33 am 3069 Views
|
Have you ever sung with a sparrow
By imitating it's "tweet"
Though the bird looks a little baffled
Boy, it is a great duet
Have you ever climbed up a tall, thin
And gangly papaya tree
To have it slowly bend down to earth
Because of the weight of thee
Have you ever pulled the pony-tail
Of the pretty girl next door
While deep inside you can't decide if
You like or dislike her more
Have you ever tried to catch the wind
As it passes in a rush
Try as you may, chasing it about
It is always air you grasp
Have you ever sat on a tube and
Go sliding fast down a hill
Even if you fall and tumble down
Gosh, it is still such a thrill
Have you ever tried to speak to one
On whom you have a huge crush
And end up tongue-tied and stammering
Your face coloured red with blush
Have you ever played in the puddles
That's left by the recent rain
And then return home, wet and dirty
To mama's dismay again
Have you ever listened to a song
While playing your air guitar
Darn it, at times I do more than that
I conduct an orchestra
Have you ever felt like Peter Pan
Flying high up in the sky
It's all because the girl of your dreams
Smiles sweetly when passing by
If we have never done the things we do
Would I still be I, and you still be you
|
|
|
8
Comments
|
|
Three English Words
|
Posted:May 28, 2008 8:04 am
Last Updated:Jun 3, 2008 8:14 am 3106 Views
|
Back in the 1950's, my father was a tailor in a British Army camp. The camp was located just beside the church in Klian Pauh, Taiping. I was about six then and my brother, a year older. He had already started to attend an English school, the Saint George's Institution.
My father's tailor "shop" was a shed of zinc and canvas situated in the compound of the camp, away from the imposing main building of brick and mortar. It was a big compound; at the front of the building was a well-kept garden and at the back, a large field of coconut trees. Our shed was situated at the back, near to a durian tree and facing the main gate.
Our country was known as Malaya back then and we were still under British rule. As such, the soldiers in the camp were all British. I was in awe of these soldiers when I first saw them. Who are these giants with their fair skin, coloured hair and eyes and who speak in a strange language?
I don't remember much about the camp now except for a few events that, for some strange reason, remain in my memory:-
Once I followed my brother to catch grasshoppers among the tall grass at the back of the camp. We kept the grasshoppers in a corked "orange squash" bottle that each of us carried. Our bottles were nearly full when a young giant, wearing a white apron, called out to us. We were scared as we could not understand him and did not know what he wanted. So, we just stood there. He came over, removed the bottles from our hands, released all the grasshoppers that we caught and then indicated with his hand that we should wait. He took the bottles with him back into the small room and we saw him wash the bottles. He then disappeared for awhile and when he returned, he was holding the two bottles filled to the brim with warm tea. He then gave the bottles back to us and shooed us off with a wave of his hand. We ran happily back to the shed to share our bounty.
On another occasion, he gave me a large paper bag full of, what I now realize are, coriander seeds. Not knowing what the seeds were then or what to do with it, I hid the paper bag beneath the cabinet at the side of the shed and soon forgot all about it. Then one day, there was a very strange aroma inside the shed. We started looking for the source of the smell and found that beneath the cabinet, the earth was covered with a carpet of green shoots! Apparently, the rain had wetted the paper bag causing it to tear and spill out the coriander seeds which then sprouted. The adults immediately recognized it as some kind of herb and harvested the plants to cook with chicken that day. They wondered how the seeds got there but I kept my silence. I did not want the hassle of explaining how I got the bag of seeds; they might not believe me.
One rainy day while I was half-asleep inside the shed, we heard the sound of something hitting the ground. On checking, we saw that it was a durian. I immediately wanted to go out to collect it but my father held me back. "It's okay. You can collect it after the rain has stopped," he said. "But what if the soldiers were to collect it first?" I cried. "No, they won't," he replied calmly. True enough, after the rain, the durian was still there. Back then, I did not know why the British soldiers left the durian alone or why my father insisted that we take the durian home to eat.
One day, my brother requested that I follow him and do what he does. So, after a little training, the two of us went around the camp looking for the soldiers and when we found one, we would stand at attention, salute and loudly cry out, "Hello John. Give me ten cents." We were doing quite well until Father got wind of it and closed down our operation. Come to think of it, those were the first English words I learned!
Then one day, the soldiers all climbed into their trucks and rumbled out of town. Father said they were going home. "Why and where is their home?" I asked. Father then mentioned something about gaining our independence and the soldiers going back to their own country. Adults can sometimes be so confusing!
During the weekends, Father would carry me on his BSA motorcycle to visit his friends. Inevitably, they would ask him how he communicated with the British soldiers. (Father was Chinese-educated). "It's easy," he would always say, "You only need to know three English words: Yes, No, Alright."
Incredulous as it may seem, I later reasoned out that what Father said is largely true. I can imagine the following exchanges between the soldiers and him:-
"I want to make a pair of trousers" - "Yes"
"Can you reduce the price?" - "No"
"I need it by Sunday" - "Alright"
With just three English words, my father was able to raise our family.
Much later, when I was raising a family of my own, I was confident that I would succeed whatever the hardships. After all, thanks to my brother, I know at least six English words:- "Hello John. Give me ten cents."
|
|
|
3
Comments
|
|
Sunset
|
Posted:May 17, 2008 8:55 pm
Last Updated:Dec 3, 2008 2:52 am 3142 Views
|
As the blood-red sun sinks into the sea
Beyond the quiet tree-lined sandy beach
The parched Hibiscus and Bougainvillea
Flowers drooping, for water they beseech
Homing birds fly over the sea, green-blue
Above the silhouettes of tall palm trees
Against the sky, a blazing orange hue
As the land is swept by the evening breeze
As the last rays of twilight wave goodbye
And dusk descends in gloom before the night
Casting bashful shadows that hide, so shy
From the rising moon and the stars so bright
Burnt out and weary the sun needs to rest
To emerge at dawn at nature's behest
Lee
|
|
|
2
Comments
|
|
Fickle Love
|
Posted:May 13, 2008 9:08 am
Last Updated:Aug 22, 2008 10:15 am 2748 Views
|
Your love just like a soft tender caress
Excites and titillates me to the core
Torrid passion, combined with fine prowess
Enthralls and leaves me yearning for much more
Entwined lovers, lost in a world, insane
Feasting wildly on a fervent affair
But then, slowly, your love begins to wane
I'm left broken and in utter despair
Raging anger and dreams, in tears, dissolve
Sounding our love with the dreaded death-knell
Without regrets and with stoical resolve
I bid my love a heart-rending farewell
Flaming passion slowly flickers and dies
Fickle lovers waver amidst their lies
|
|
|
1
comment
|
|
Negativity
|
Posted:May 11, 2008 6:51 pm
Last Updated:May 13, 2008 11:46 pm 3160 Views
|
Why is everyone so negative
To deem your post as provocative?
Your accusations
Created tensions
And yet, you claim to be positive
Lee
|
|
|
5
Comments
|
|
Thunderstorm
|
Posted:Apr 15, 2008 7:37 am
Last Updated:Aug 18, 2008 4:07 am 3055 Views
|
Ominous clouds in downcast sky
Lightning flashes, thunderclaps
Reverberate, as rain clouds cry
Falling rain, round us, wraps
Rattling harsh, the window pane
Fighting to get within
The howling wind, amid the rain
Raises one raucous din
Endless raindrops splash and splatter
Drenching the drowning street
Spraying mists of real fine water
On bare and covered feet
Sodden flowers, nodding their heads
Trees, with their wide boughs bent
Soaking all, as the cloudburst spreads
Violent, without relent
Raging torrents, down mountainside
Rumbling, wild and free
Swollen rivers and sea collide
In choppy estuary
Lee
|
|
|
4
Comments
|
|
Tomorrow
|
Posted:Apr 8, 2008 9:26 pm
Last Updated:Jan 16, 2009 5:26 am 3057 Views
|
Sometimes life's a joy, happy and gay
Sometimes life sucks, an utter dismay
Whatever it may be
Tomorrow you'll be free
For you cannot take along today
Lee
|
|
|
4
Comments
|
|
Opinion
|
Posted:Apr 3, 2008 4:28 am
Last Updated:Jun 3, 2008 5:38 am 3097 Views
|
It's just an opinion one is making
Even when it's used for attacking
If he were to defy
And dare make a reply
Why is it then that he is judging?
Lee
|
|
|
4
Comments
|
|
