Renewal, adaptability, transformation

Welcome Year of the Green Wood Snake

No illusion, no delusion

May wisdom and flexibility reign.

Source: chinadaily 2024-0109 - gold artifacts with snake and tiger motifs, unearthed from Xiazhan site in Baoji, Shaanxi province.

Don't Defy Age

 * Just Another Day *

10

Don’t Defy Age

Let age

Remind you

To eat heartily

To laugh fully

Roll, let it roll

Who still fears

which way the dice faces up?

Why Still This?

 * Just Another Day *

9

Why Still This?

At sixty

I thought 

I am thick

Unassailable

by frowns or sneers

Unruffled, unshaken

Say what may.

Be kind

You too will age one day.

Fact of Living

 * Just Another Day *

8

Fact of Living

The sun sets on us

but it also rises

The wind blows cold

but it also blows cool

We can choose to wear

black or white

or colour bright.

When I Look Out the Window

 * Just Another Day *

7

When I Look Out the Window

Everybody is on to somewhere

And I by the window

Everybody looks busy

And I by the window

I have just read for the last hour

I too have been somewhere

and everywhere.

The Sound of Siren

 * Just Another Day *

6

The Sound of Siren

I hate the sound of siren

Someone’s in the ambulance

Someone’s on the brink

But I should not hate

the din

Someone’s still has hope.

The Face is in the Bowl

 * Just Another Day *

5

The Face is in the Bowl

I dunk my head

into the bowl, almost,

for a full scoop

to emerge

with a toothless smile,

No matter,

Just put the face back.

In the garden

 * Just Another Day *

4

In the garden

I love to garden

Squat-sit

Cosy like a tree stump

It’s the getting up I hate

Heavy like a log

But love it once I’m up

I feel like

A swinging weight.

When I spill coffee

 * Just Another Day *

3

When I Spill Coffee

When I spill coffee

Crab runs, and 

rainforest tree sprawls

on the table cloth

When I drool tea

Little blooms dot

the shirt and pants

Don’t be angry

Don’t be sad

Laugh

For the laughter drawled.

The Art of Eating

 * Just Another Day *

2

The Art of Eating

Bring out the best

Put on the colours

Age is not an excuse 

to forgo indulgence

Precious bone china plates

and silver forks and spoons.

The Stubborn One

* Just Another Day *

 1

The Stubborn One

The peanut butter is good

Till one chunk refuses to leave

I release my perfect teeth

Flick off the stubborn one

And I’m back to my perfection.

Wild Desire

 * Keep a Star, Somewhere *

10

Wild Desire

Horses on wings

captured in muralled thrill

With faces upturned

thunder through the wilderness

and glee this heart

free its weight

away on these phantoms of delight.

My One

 * Keep a Star, Somewhere *

9

My One

(a dedication, 12/1985)

Silver hair and laughing lines

You snort at signs of age

and wave away norms and forms

  ‘give me my pipe and cappuccino,

   a tale or two

   of old movies and alfa romeo

   and soccer too’

Acts of care 

Acts of deed

behind a countenance severe

Only he who laughs along

sees laughter in your eyes that pierce

Such as you are

Simplicity, sensitivity,

sometimes to a fault

(a tinge of arrogance though)

Dear, you are only one.