A friend request for a visual haiku, here is my response:
ZEN RELECTION POND
Borrowed scenery
Delusional blurred borders
Sank into pond dead
This haiku was his request the day before:
BLOODY MOON
A moon festival
Bloody super eclipse haze
Neighbour courtesy
There are about half a dozen mazes available at Enchanted Garden, namely, hedge, turf, spring, mirror, children and gallery maze. At Ashcombe there are hedge mazes, jasmine and roses, but these flowers are not in full bloom in the first week of Spring, and they have no tree surfing and tube slides. The children and adults love this place.I have composed a poem on mazes to compare it with living.
LIFE’S PATH AND MEANDERING MAZES
Life is not well sculptured and manicured mazes;
At entry point, divergent paths offer choices.
It’s crazy to be the first and fastest to exit;
Any obstacle, turn, enjoys the meandering thicket.
In hedges the fences are fixed and tall;
In living, you may crawl or climb the wall.
In mazes, hit dead ends, lost time, and alone turn around;
Even in darkness and rain, persist and safe on the ground.
In life’s circuitry, meandering the path by wants and desire;
To discover self in goals and belonging, share light and fire.
I wrote this in response to a story about termites, cabinets, mamak’s carpentry, circulating in the media.
RESPONDING TO AN ALLEGORY
King maker, Mamak, is a blighted termite;
Prejudiced by sight: fight and bite;
Procreates lousy mites: so corrupted;
Cancer infested: crooked and wretched.
Our cabinets are made of plywood;
Not oak, the core so good, all weather stood.
They are odd layers of cosmetic veneers: glued;
Chemical stained, under heat or rain: spewed.
Not solid, dead wood, pulp sticky to extreme;
No carpenters can rescue such furniture scheme.
Termites, silent destroyers, spread and fast collapse;
Pest control urgent, house in danger: a death-trap.
IMPRESSION OF VIENTIANE CITY
Please allow me to salute the page with my poem today.
UNINVITED
It is vain to look and search for beauty,
It is around, but cannot be invited.
It may come in any corner or edge: open or hidden.
The ordinary may be beautiful, yet elusive,
Only an unprepared mind can perceive the extra ordinary,
It comes uninvited, at opportune circumstances.
It is vain to look at beauty with bare physical eyes.
Or attempt to capture it with modern shots.
You will miss it.
What you have hold are mere shadows or images.
You may feel it.
in the silence of timelessness.
Blessedness: come and go;
Memories: flow and glow.
In contrast to my belief, Laos is a peaceful country, with very friendly people. Many ATM machines line along streets. In Malaysia, they would disappear overnight or even in the day. It is safe to walk in the streets, even at night.
a close view of dried bee hives
my favourite dish here: river fish cooked in oil and hot chillies. Hot juicy meat
triumphant gate against French coloniser, as symbolised by the red blood in the national flag, against the white full moon on the Mekong river
an innovative way for wine keeping
Ladies sitting whole day in their weaving
PERSPECTIVE AND LAUGHTER
As children grow older and older,
they smile and laugh lesser and lesser.
Kids are so spontaneous without words,
now code switch to name geeks and nerds.
Go to school for a certificate to earn a living,
in the end, grimaces and furrows of aging.
When language evolves, laughter dissolves,
humour and jokes for social survival involves.
Belly giggling, ribs tickling in expiratory laugh,
boost immunity and build bonds on own behalf.
Comedians laugh at themselves by acts of misbelief,
the motif was the momentary memory loss of grief.
Placing laughing and crying in their right perspective,
silent prayers and healing sound to forget and forgive.
DOUBLE HELIX BRIDGE
Shinning and glaring steel wraps around,
power spirals loop and curl in spellbound,
connecting struts link this tight global city,
building bridges, identity across diverse history.
Yang elements over dominates, shapes, symbols
fuddle by heavy technocratic stainless metals.
Yin water from Bay and River harmonizes flow,
lights aglow, colorful pedestrians enjoy show.
The iconic merlion spouts, does not roar,
balanced hybrids open doors to rich shores.
CULTURAL CODE
Bizarre speeches, seizures,
mesmerize and mime
the Hitler myth,
the silly spell backfire,
attract angry audiences.
Those rusted paddocks,
brain bloated, dry rot,
small screwed up key,
the evolving digital hole,
too big to fit.
Dark Age mindset,
mediocre, manipulative code
unable to unlock, change mode,
squeeze spaces between
people living in peace.
Verbal purgatory and masturbatory,
earns petty political capital,
in holy month ,a country where
selective freedom of speech,
hegemonic media,
reserve for princely dastards,
power to throw smarting darts.
wonkywizard 