Bare-footed

*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*

 

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.

Loving the Rain

 *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.

The Long and Short of Ageing

*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.

Did They Say

*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*

 

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.

One at A Time

*Life's Still a Basket of Longans*

 

5

One at A Time

Yesterday was bad

No one says today will be better

Here, take the good old broom

One sweep, at a time

to the dustpan

to the bin

For today

One pain at a time

One relief at a time.

It's Gone Now, sort of

4

It’s Gone Now, sort of

The candle that you gave

It’s melted down

But how brightly

how fragrantly

when it burnt

because you gave

it to me.

Sometimes

*Life's Still a Basket of Longans* 

3

Sometimes

Sometimes my heart

is drowned in the rain

is scorched by the sun

is blown to bits by the wind 

These are times

I hold my heart in

And I don’t feel too good

I want my heart to race

I want my heart to sing

I need to look for it

to take wings again.