MALAYSIAN SONNET ECHOES 61: BITTERSWEET YEARNING

Excruciating pain, death is a choice;

The drugs fail to ease, agony, my voice.

My knee bloat and bulge, the earth quake and spilt;

Synovium bleeds, strangulate and hit.

Sound my wailing siren to paradise;

Repentance and forgiveness of my vice.

Resentment and regrets complicate life;

Mobility down, restlessness run rife.

Bitter truth of life, body’s wear and tear;

Sad tears dribble down knee, fresh ire aware.

Living without style, feel enough and rich;

Stays calm and cool, mind adjust to new niche.

Life is bittersweet, the divide we share;

The affair we dream, we compare the flare.

Note:

We consulted an orthopedic surgeon at Mount Alvernia MC yesterday, recommended by his colleague we saw earlier. We had a frank and long discussion about my medical condition. The complication was rare. In his long practice of two decades in his speciality, I was the first patient he encountered with such a problem. The explanation removes some of my grudges and misunderstanding.

In the interval, I read several books, listen to many You tube over wide topic. I, thereby, summarize all I have read into the above sonnet.

The pictures of books were copied pasted from the web. I have read them with appreciation to the authors Their books give me a different perspective to life. I have added two food pictures: Nasi Lemak (coconut milk added to rice, with flower petals), a Malaysian cuisine, simple and excellent; and a well balanced Western breakfast. The oats were steel cut and boiled, a small bananas for the flavour.; plain yogurt was added to the fruits; black coffee, without sugar nor milk.

LYRICAL POEM: THE HORIZON ( 天边)

Lyric by Gilgelang, Painter and Poet, Mongolia, China, November, 2000
Translation by Dr. LIM Keng Huat, wonkywizard, FREE VERSES

"The word lyric, and its connection to the words of a song, provides one hint about the adjective lyrical, which can mean "appropriate for singing." When a movie, book, dance, or work of art gives you the same feeling as the most beautiful music, you can also describe those things as lyrical. The musical connection goes all the way back to the Greek root word, lyra, or lyre."

Above the horizon, there's a pair of twin stars;
Those are the eyes that glitter in my dream.
A morning fog pervades around the mountains;
It's the forlorn tenderness left by you from the night.

I yearn to ascend, to climb to the peak;
To figure out the physical image of the fog.
I desire to mount, mount on a thoroughbred;
To chase the far away stars.

There is a giant tree at the end of the world;
Offers a cool green shade within my heart.
Far away, there is a tall mountain;
That represent your great and broad mindset.

I aspire to pick under that tree;
To weave a pretty nostalgic flashback.
I wish to descend, down to the foothill to graze;
Just to trace your footpaths.

I aspire to be your co-rider;
Racing through the deep grassland and hinterland.
I desire we spread our wings together;
Flying through the blue sky of the dome gorges.

天边
歌手：布仁巴雅尔

所属专辑：天边 (布仁巴雅尔特别纪念版 1960-2018)


天边有 一对双星
那是我梦中的眼睛
山中 有 一片晨雾
那是你 昨夜 的柔情
我要登上 登上山顶
去 寻觅雾中的身 影
我要跨上 跨上骏马
去 追逐遥远的星星
天边 有 一棵大树
那是我心中的绿荫
远方有 一座高山
那是你 博大的胸襟
我要树下 树下采撷
去编织美丽的憧憬
我要山 下山下放 牧
去 追寻你的 足迹
我愿 与你 策马同行
奔 驰在草原的深处
我愿与你 展翅飞翔
遨游在蓝天的 穹谷

Notes:

In the last week I was confined to my bed room, with very intense pain from hemarthrosis (bleeding into the operated knee), due to entangled synovium with my titanium, a rare post surgical complication. The orthopedic surgeon rightly asked me to treat my heart first before any open knee surgery. I have triple vessel blockage, without breathless, chest pain or discomfort. Tomorrow I shall be admitted to Singapore Heart Center for angiogram, stenting if lucky, instead of bypass operation. During rest at home, I listen to the above Chinese song, and is so impressed with the music and lyric, but I cannot catch many words sung. I searched the web for the full lyric, and found there is a video with it. I think it is worthy for readers to listen to the song or video.

The poet met his friend 30 years later at Beijing Airport. Despite the long parting, they spotted each other without problem. After the brief encounter, he composed the lyric at the basement of the airport and asked his friend to set it in music (later others in video). The song and lyric becomes so popular, and, unfortunately, rumours about the friendship also spread around. If you listen to the different versions of singing by singers, often you listen more to the sentimentality of the lyric, and not the spiritual friendship between them.