....but this metaphor
   is not for her
   she won't bother
   the literal she does prefer

Let's not quarrel
you do what you may
I'll do mine--that's fair
I should say-

never mind our differences
none should insist on their way
the world is made of 7.7 billion faces
imagine the number of transactions that mark the day!

What do you want to be
my dear boy Robbie?
to be Superboy flying free
with Superman-to every country!

He who is tired of mankind
is one who first found himself tiresome
to one another, man should be kind
not holding another to ransom.

As there's the Yang
so must be the Yin
when held in balance
nothing will wear thin

Don't over-spend
   on your credit-card
   debts are leeches
   they cling on and never depart

I've written enough
there's no urgency
to write more-
too many flowers
will choke the meadow
too many words
will confusion draw-

silent I'll be for now
for my next inspiration I'll wait
there will be the right ripening
my life I'll then happily celebrate.

1 Speak honestly
2.  Act graciously
3.  Accept gratefully
4.  Give generously
5.  Help readily
6.  Befriend selectively
7.  Carry out your work dutifully
8.  Co-operate unfailingly
9  Listen attentively
10.  Observe mindfully
11  Think broadly
12.  Contemplate calmly
13.   Deal justly
14.  Win fairly
15.  Negotiate magnanimously
16.   Aim realistically
17.   Forgive unequivocally
18.   Respect reverently
19   Avoid acting recklessly
20. Pray devoutly

Quiet study-room

memorabilia and books

I think of grandpa

That which is before me
the moment
the one-to-one encounter
what would the engagement be?

  I am cast
  into the unknown
  of time
  and circumstance

  I think
  I weigh
  I have to decide
  to act or delay
  in a blinker

  it all seems to me
  life is but an endless succession
  of moments scattered over
   the continuum of time

    I am the counterpart
    of the moment
    in that interface
    I discover
     what I am.

Enough angst
and chagrin
for the day

beleaguered by
competition
rivalry
office politics
envy and jealousy
swelling like the angry sea

malice
bad mouthing
insinuating
bickering
the insulting
the pretending
the blaming

beleaguered
is the keynote
of the day

if a solution
to this blight
you've found
write to me
kindly
in Hello--Poetry.

Dear Mr Lim
Your chances of being published
are very slim

Signed
Poetry editor April 19th 2019

We exaggerate
we sensationalise
to appear more appealling
before other people's eyes--

a thousand becomes ten
'Yes, that was the true price
  I was the fastest runner
  I won every prize-

  In college all the girls loved me
  well, that was no surprise
   I scored distinctions in every subject
    my photo appeared in Enterprise-

      I campaigned for Donald Trump
      I gave him critical advice
      I've said enough for now
      Modesty I should exercise'.

They have the latest news
let them in high spirit narrate
my little farm is impatiently waiting
my crops I've to quickly cultivate.

Amidst life's deep pain and suffering
  music is the unfailing mother of healing
  the self will embrace a mysterious awakening
  reborn into a glorious resurrecting

'The truth of things'
the purveyor's statement
his point of view
his own presentiment-

truth in the absolute-
who's the authority?  ambivalent
is the closest definitive
philosophy's perennial predicament!

Don't waste time
studying me
instead study
yourself closely

what you would know
of me eventually
at the expense of yourself
is nothing but pure triviality

Am I not fortunate
in having little
as there's enough food
on my table while others have none?

I don't intend
to travel far
the hour of reckoning
is now and can't wait
even unequipped and unready
I'll hold my ground
I won't quit
even if I don't prevail
I'll still celebrate
for life could never be evaded
and against the odds
I've fearlessly fought

it's not lack of strength or courage
that breaks the human spirit
but paucity of will and patience
to win is not the goal
it's the moving-forth
the never-yielding grip
the staying-power
the holding-on
and not to slip

I fear not my frailty
it gives me strength
no ally do I seek
nor do favour I ask
human am I
I recognise
my vulnerability
but would never bow
to unjust authority
or haughty power

it's folly
to aim
to be heroic
I would rather choose
to be stoic

even as a tiny leaf
into the violent sea blown
I'll keep myself afloat
amidst the raging waves
I'll not yield or moan

each life
is lived
in the single
and particular
not the general

here I am
tossed
by the winds
of fate

myself I own
I must survive
all alone.

Scarcely could I
give myself a name
my persona is illusive
its intrinsic I can't claim-

what is this 'I-ness'?
am I playing a silly game?
the more I try to grasp
the harsher I self-blame.

Homes and trees in snow

lone figure walks with pet-dogs

wife looks through window

I recognise this place
I’m still here
my memory fails me never
it’s impeccable—sure--
past faces and images
in my mind are embedded
present ones I survey
whatever and wherever
I thrive, I endure

none is aware
I’m near
I’m invisible
secrets long-buried
and forgotten
I remember
the delirious joy
  of someone
  the tragic pain
  of another--
  from every life
  I’m inseparable
  (no matter
   none knows
   where I was
    nor why I’m here)
  
    this place
   I recognise
   as I was
   so here I’m still
   I’ve not aged
   I’ve not grown old
   human life is a billion tales
   to be told and retold
  
I’m  software
and hardware too
the record-keeper
the invisible chronicler
the appointed
  but impartial narrator
   ‘tis my destiny
    my duty, my call
    and I never falter


    now I see all
    in this place
    that I knew
    long ago
    though no face
    nor scene
    is as before

    the now
    the present
     is how
     all human life
      is lived-
      the longing
      the anguish-
      the ecstasy
      of loving
       the pain
       of love lost-
       of dreams vanishing
       of hopes perishing
       all the striving
       the waiting
       all the wanting
        but not having
         and desires unfulfilled

       you in the room
       each a mystery
       you talk—in glee
       but something inside
       you are hiding
       (we all have secrets
         which we wish to forget)
         soon enough
        the wine and beer
         has been drunk
          the conversation
           is becoming
          inane and discomforting
          the initial zeal is fading
          (**** those around
            who are smoking and puffing)
        
         the day turns
         into evening
         the bar must be closing
         the musician
         must no longer
          be singing
          ( half-hearted hand-shaking
             the pretending
             the inner murmuring
             ‘  all this big and loud nothing-
                 banal, boring, silly
                 is this living?’)

                All this I had seen
                and heard before….

                 but none of you know
                 I was then there
                 and now am here

I’m not a spy
I’m not a ghost
I’m not a ******
no magician either

I’m the
the sentinel
the watcher
the story-teller

the one immortal

who am I?

my name is Time.

I could
but would not
my choice I made
then on that spot

certain words
I would have said
I turned away
my voice I forbade

kinder I could have been
generosity I did lack
the encounter is lost forever
time I can't turn back

yet I still know not
was I right or wrong--and why?
life is not pure science
straight answers it does deny.

Love is not in the market-place
nor the tempting dance-hall
love is not in the parade-line
it's invisible all-in-all.

Love is not in words pronounced
nor in any promise or vow
it dwells silently in my heart
as then, the future and as of now.

The counterpart of hero is she-ro

In a late night train I travelled
the windows bore vague marks
of silent rain. I was the only passenger-
where was everyone?
Was all this orchestrated
that I would be left alone
to converse with my sorrow?

Tired looked the moon- sickly
would best describe
its strange paleness
was it sharing this moment with me?
no--it had no heart and couldn't feel-
yet my imagination ran wild as the wind
drifted in the night air as though with a voice
that seemed to say: I am in pain
but humans don't care nor understand'--

(there's always mystery in the night
only to walk in the absence of light
when no human is near or in sight
the chronicler of every human plight)--

squeezed into the immediacy
of time in hours beyond midnight
the drone of engine I likened
to an ailing old man's
incessant monotonous cough
and groan--with no respite--

(why do people dislike
and fear the night
looking at the ticking clock
hoping for early morning light?)

I wouldn't mind
if the train had no stops
with no destination
for me to alight

the silent drama
would thicken
between
the three--
the moving train
the night
and me.

Boatman looks at sky

dimmed by thick blanket of clouds

his heart longs for home.

Don't worry about my name

you and I have both known sorrow

we are already acquainted  as such

that's all we need to know

I never tire  
of this most travelled land
there a million times I've travelled
still I long to return-

  in the remote I live alone
to others unknown:
this is my heart and home
all that I call my own

About friends,   just a few sentences to write
of enemies,  it would take a whole  long night

2050---  Why should I care?
you sort it out---I won't be there!

The day that fear crept into the human heart
the whole world convulsed and all order fell apart.

You want a duel?
I'm ready
when and where?
I'll bring you to your knee!

Waves beat ******* shore
frightened birds take to the sky
sudden lightning flash

Thanks, you are an eternal optimist,  not me---
my life-philosophy takes in the downside of life and things.

This to me is realism, not the least idealism.-

Being over-optimistic is an unbalanced view of life and things

It's a telling sign

when with myself I grow weary

it's time to move away

lest I end in misery

That--I can't declare
the past has gone to sleep
the heart claims its right to say
memories it destructively longs to keep

despite the ravage of unfriendly time
wounds still run so deep
love is a word that so sickens
sorrows pile into a towering heap.

Words
are not
what they seem
don't be bought!

The day does seem
an endless journey
when you have lost your way
and life seems so empty

I don't wish to be known
or I would be less my own

Love is a conversation incomplete
the unsaid words --they are the most sweet

Fading away
is my frail candle
I won't let it die
I'll quickly rekindle-

even though it would
but flicker and dwindle
I'd stay by to the last
with its last breath commingle.

Teacher to a pupil:
what's a watershed?
answer: Miss Turtle
when rain falls on the head!

My dream washed away

in nonchalance of the sea

waves they remember

But Heart-Land has grown
too old, weary and familiar
travellers have turned away
heartless is the once-proud lover-

once the most- loved terrain
life's sanctuary and treasure
flowers have withered for neglect
no more to be found is simple pleasure-

weeds have festered and soils
have hardened beyond measure
the sands on the shore have turned grey
the once-merry stream has lost its murmur--

how sad it is. Laughter and  beauty has been betrayed by the lover
who looked away in waywardness
  the grandeur and splendour is over.

Colours' effluence

they merge, ****** and converse

become a bouquet

Is it me who's the problem
or other people?
indeed a conundrum
me this issue does unsettle

Learn when to pause

Friends could be more dreadful than enemies  
you know the latter better than the former
so many do cloud your life and give no peace
the mind of the latter you don't need to decipher.

Person-fragmented
    too long self has been neglected