On hawks again

Round and round you flew up there,
With a laziness that seems so rare,
Gliding on the breeze with wings spread wide,
I wished you could take me for a ride.
Life up there must be simple and serene,
Nothing to do, except appreciate the scene,
Food not lacking, water aplenty,
Freedom stretching far beyond the city.
With unhurried speed and confident look,
A majestic sight, my breath you took.
"How many circles have you flown?"
"For as long as the wind has blown."

(Birds of prey, like hawks that I used to see so often, never fail to intrigue me. These majestic creatures have a regal air around them, moving with grace yet with a hint of tenacity, and full of confidence.)

On hawks

In a lazy circle above my head, I watched him fly,
The winds carrying him in the light blue sky.
Round and round, an endless flight,
Flying up there, mocking at my plight.
The poor me, trapped to this earth,
Confined to this land, my own turf.
Run as I might, I soon come to a fence,
Cooped up in this place, I feel so tense.
A screech I heard from the hawk above me,
A mocking laugh to me it seemed to be.
"Where can you go, fenced in on all sides?
Up here without fences, it is I who decide."
With envy I stared at the hawk above.
Freedom it possesses, freedom that I love.
But the hawk too, has the problem of freedom,
Where to go, in this vast big kingdom?

(There are many hawks in the surroundings of my campus when I was studying. They can often be found either gliding in the breeze in lazy circles or perched up high on the rooftops of buildings.)

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

There is a Buddhist proverb that goes, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

My Chinese tremendously improved due to my Chinese tuition teacher. He appeared at a time when I was ready to immerse myself in Chinese.

When I was ready to work on my calligraphy, my calligraphy teacher was there ready to teach.

When I was ready to learn more about taiji, I happened upon my taiji teacher.

I guess life is full of learning. When you are ready to learn, someone will be there ready to teach you.

Firefight

Behind a tree I hid in fright,
A battle within myself first I fight,
Tool in hand, trained to use,
Yet right now, I simply refuse.
Rapidly breathing, heart racing,
I knew I better start thinking,
Start deciding, I better be doing,
Before it becomes my own undoing.
The sounds around me helped not,
The screams as comrades were shot,
The booms as bombs were dropped,
The blasts as grenades were popped.

In that split second I resolved,
The conflict within me, now solved,
All doubts in me now dissolved,
Killing the foe my thoughts now revolved.
Rifle in hand, as it always was,
I peeped out from behind my tree,
Only to see, a man, the enemy,
Aiming straight at my best friend Tim.

Principles, morals, mercy,
They flew out of all my thoughts,
The only thing in my mind was now,
He is going to kill my best friend Tim.

Hesitation did not guide my hand,
As I brought the rifle up to stand,
Training my sights at the man,
My finger squeezed, and the bullet went.
Wham! The bullet hit the man,
My aim was true, the head it slammed,
He stood headless, for a second,
Then collapsed, a headless mess.

Oh my God, what have I done?
My first kill, the very first one.
Thoughts sink in, realisation begins,
At the foul deed, I have done.

But there was no time to reflect or cry,
The firefight goes on, and so must I,
The first one done, what is two or three?
I aimed and fired, and fired and fired.
How many I downed, I did not count,
The screams and cries, I do not recount,
In my mind, I only thought,
They must die, or it is my comrades and I.

I probably wrote this after reading some book on the Vietnam War.

七夕夜，静如水

Another poem written some time ago... in fact, 1994.

七夕夜，静如水，
独观牛郎织女星，
忆起昔日断肠人相送，
心又乱，肠又断，痛痛痛。

昔日别，今日恨，
秋风何人来共鸣？
梦里归故重见伊人面，
醒时伤，泪两行，伤伤伤。

Women in kimono

Women always look nice in kimono. Or so I think. While the kimono doesn't enhance any of their natural curves (in fact, it hides their natural curves) and wraps them up with little to show, it is exactly these features of the kimono that attracts. The more covered a woman is, the less she has to show to appear attractive. For example, being covered from neck to ankle, just a show of a bit more of the nape of the neck is enough to send suggestive signals. The drawing up of the sleeves to show a bit more of the forearm is enough to do the same too. Definitely more attractive than the near bare-all of bikinis.

For those who don't know, there is actually a lot of knowledge behind kimonos, and it isn't really easy for the untrained to wear on their own. The older generation is used to wearing it (it used to be their daily wear) but the younger generation usually needs someone to help them wear it.

Colours of the seasons

Looking at the two sides of the road,
Left and right in two neat rows,
Trees so tall and growing so straight,
Swaying gently as a breeze blows.
Flowers bloom as weather warms,
Buds opening slowly but surely,
Life peeking out from under hoods,
Steadily becoming a reality.

Sunrises and sunsets pass by,
Sand seeps down the hourglass,
The flowers now past their prime,
Gently descend from their past.
Covering the once empty street,
With petals of colour aplenty.
Until rains fall and winds blow by,
Leaving the street again empty,
The colourful specks that dot the street,
Washed and blown away already.

Yet the green that were the leaves,
Disappoint us they do not be,
Yellow, red, brown, orange,
Changing colours they do freely,
Yet like the flowers these leaves too,
Never everlasting they can be,
Colours to last ever so briefly,
Green no more they drop randomly.

Trunks and branches these trees be,
A single colour they are now,
Not a bud nor a leaf there is,
Awaiting spring with a bald crown.

I used to live on a street lines with cherry blossom trees, and this describes the colourful changes that seasons bring.

A glance, a smile, a turn of the head

A glance, a smile, a turn of the head,
Left a poor soul rooted, face so red,
His heart stopped and his breathing ceased,
His heart stolen and his breath taken.
His gaze followed the departing back,
His mind still shocked from the attack,
His legs started moving down the track,
His pace increasing with each step.

That smile so beautiful, the lips so full,
That glance with eyes gleaming so true,
That face so simple yet so charming,
What else could cause eyes to go wandering?
How is it he never noticed before,
All of these which he now only saw,
Beautiful she never was until this day,
When he saw her in a different way.

Sometimes, we are so used to things that we miss the little things in life that makes a difference. This was written really long ago (maybe 10 years) but I guess it still holds true today.

A temptress, the sea

Gentle waves,
Inching up the beach.
Soft whispers,
They calmly beseech.
Murderous waves,
Pounding the cliffs.
Roaring thunder,
Yet bringing relief.

For the sea is alive,
With a temper her own.
And she speaks her moods,
In her own tone.

A temptress, the sea,
A very fatal one.
How many a calm sea,
Had caused a man undone?
With calmness she lures,
Drawing into her lair.
Then a storm she becomes,
Driving one to despair.
As her hands sweep by,
One after another,
Washing off the deck,
Brother after brother.
Screams and cries,
For help they raved,
All these before,
A watery grave.

As sudden as the storm,
The calmness returns.
Yet on the deck,
My heart burns.
In anguish and frustration,
At the temper she had thrown.
What right has she?
To leave me alone?
My brothers in the water,
Their luck at the end.
The torment of drowning,
I cannot apprehend.

A team we were then,
With confidence we left.
We thought it was simple,
And our skills deft.

But now we are but one,
A lonely soul in water.
Desperately seeking land,
Yet not seeing for that matter.
Lost I had become,
How long can I hold fast?
Before the pains of hunger,
Make me breathe my last.

I am a son of the sea, so the sea is no stranger to me. She is often described using the feminine pronoun, as her tempers are like a woman. A storm at sea is like a woman spurned, and that is what this is all about.

My previous works part 2

When I first started this blog in 2006, I mentioned that I would include some of my previous works as well.

Guess what? I finally found my book of prose/poems, so get ready for a flood of them as I start to post them over the next few days/weeks.

Calligraphy piece - 将能而君不御者胜 again

I really like the phrase 将能而君不御者胜 so I decided to write it again.

This one is definitely better than the previous one.

It goes in the office, to remind me constantly of what a good superior should be.

New breed of employees

A friend and I were just discussing about the new breed of employees entering the workforce, and guess what? JapanToday ran a similar article discussing this new breed of people. While the people mentioned in the article are Japanese, Singapore faces a similar situation, with the new breed of employees generally having a different attitude towards work. Maybe it is because of the similar shift in our education system?

I guess one difference is the priority between work and self. People used to be more willing to sacrifice self in order to get work done. With the new breed of employees, the priority is more on the self than on work (that doesn't mean they don't work or make sacrifices for work, just less willing to). Whether this is a change for the better or not, no one can judge, since we all have different values and see things through different perspectives/filters. What hasn't changed, of course, is that as long as you keep an employee happy, he or she will not think of leaving.

Sid

I look at the photo in my hand,
Thinking of a time in another land.
The times we had gone through in training,
The fun we had shared during liberty.
But one day I found him there,
Hanging from his necktie above a chair.
Cold and stiff, suspended in mid-air,
To touch him, I really didn’t dare.
Why, I asked myself, why must this be?
What is it in her that you truly see?
You love her for who she is,
But she loves you for what you can give.
Not for who you are or who you will be,
But for what you bring her, what she receives.
You should have lived life with intrepid,
Yet you do something so really stupid.


Got this idea after the character Sid Worley from the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman”.

Duty, honour, country

With steeled heart and hardened face,
I walked away at an even pace,
Head never turning, pace never slowing,
Even as tears brought my will dissolving.

“Sorry love that I have to go,
This path is for me, yes I know.”
Duty and honour, may they be with me,
For you I can no longer see.

My country I could not let down,
My duty I could not put down.
For their sake we have to part,
The end is always a new start.

Rifle in hand I went and went,
Having to live in a tent,
Shooting and being shot at,
In muddy trenches I sat.

My luck held out over the days,
Not a scratch was all I could say.
I would make it, yes I would.
The luck should hold, yes it should.

As I lay bleeding,
The life from me seeping,
“Sorry my darling,
I am dying.”

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You said you would be back, that you cannot bear to leave me behind.
You said you would be back, with your letters you constantly remind.
You said you would be back, saying that to us God would be kind.
You said you would be back, for me to this world you would be bind.
Yet where are you now, that clock of yours each day I would wind.
Yet where are you now, horrible thoughts keep coming back to mind.
Yet where are you now, your body they were never able to find.
Yet where are you now, how could you bear to be ever so unkind?

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This was written way back... probably 1999 or 2000. I forgot what inspired me to write this, but it was probably some war movie.

Sunrise

As he extended each arm,
Warmth crepth slowly,
Over the lands and seas,
Touching even the most lowly.
Each arm brought warmth,
And light to guide the way.
As more arms are spread,
We see another day.
---------------------------
Gloomy,
For you shut yourself in.
Walk out,
Wallow not in sin.
See for yourself,
The bright sun.
Everywhere in this land,
Life has begun.
Hope is in the air,
Joy overflowing,
People laughing,
Life is for enjoying.
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Something that I wrote quite some time ago. Found it while going through my old webpages and thought I would share it. I will be sharing more works.