* Keep a Star, Somewhere *
7
That Which Beckons
The sea before me
beckons
Loving arms
Reach to halt the move
bring the sea to shore
only to watch it withdraw
The raft you build
Will float with me
even as I soak
Solitude on the high sea
Winds and waves to contend
Stars to dream
Echoes of love to steer
And I will be back
with the raft
you build.
* Keep a Star, Somewhere *
6
Full House
Ode to the Morning Glory
Toast to the Golden Shower
and Angel’s Trumpet
Gaiety once more
Sleep lounges in
couches and chairs
Pillows and blankets
litter the floor
Full house.
5
No, don’t
Don’t want to know
Don’t need to know
Suffice to know
You are love
He is love
She is love
We love.
4
Let’s Just Live
Sometimes let’s just live
Do not complain
Do not say much
Love as much as you can
Let’s just live
Let’s just be happy.
* Keep a Star, Somewhere *
3
The Road
Some pray that the road
is still long
Some pray that the road
will end
I say pray that you can
still touch the flowers
by the roadside
pray that you can
still stride the wet pavement
and thank the rain
that sprays it.
* Keep a Star, Somewhere *
2
Ode to the Bitter Gourd
Take of the youth
of the little bitter gourd
Taste the sweetness
Swallow the bitterness, and
Give thanks
for the little bitter gourd.
* Keep a Star, Somewhere *
1
Precious You
I can’t think of anyone
as precious as you
Warm hands, soft face
and bronzed smell
But forgive me
Sometimes when you touch
I frown.
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
13
Let’s Stay Together
Let me tell you
Let’s stay together
Let’s age together
Let me not lose any of you
You may gasp now and then
You may skip now and then
You may get too fat
You may thin over time
You may not hold well sometimes
You may not push well sometimes
Sometimes
the sight may glaze
the hearing may dim
the smell may miss
the bite may mellow
the touch may slip
Still I don’t want to lose
Any of you
Let’s grow old together
When we have to leave
Remember, one doesn't really leave.
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
12
For an Afternoon Nap
The thunderstorm brings no relief,
Neither does the swaying traveller’s palm
Take a book
Lull on waves of oldies
Lullaby for an oldie
And sleep
sinks like an old coconut
six inches into the mud.
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
11
Layers
Reposition
Reinvent
Remodel
Words to see through the seasons
Summer through to winter
We peel off layers
and
We put on layers
What are put off
and
What are put on
by those
whose seasons
remain constant?
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
10
And They Sing and Sing
And there they sing
Two in a fling
Not a song or two
but till two
Time is of no consequence
It’s their little romance
When night sometimes spans long
and sleep does not come along.
9
Bare-footed
I took off my shoes
I’ve been wearing shoes
you know, for more than decades
today I want to walk
on the wet grass
and dig into squishy mud.
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
8
Loving the Rain
Someone offered an umbrella
But I was feeling young
The rain silvered my greying hair
moistened my dry skin
tasted sweet too on my lips.
*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*
7
The Long and Short of Ageing
There was a time
when we walked tall
then the creaks came
and the stoop too.
It can’t be
the longer we live
the shorter we get.
I stake my prop
on this and that
I chase
I stretch for
and so the taller I get.
6
Did They Say
Did they say
You get wiser
as you get older
Did they say
You can fumble
as you get older
Did they say
You eat simply
as you get older
Do I have to take it
the way they say?
I want it my way
I want it as I say
I’ll be wise
in my way.
