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MS Lim Nov 2015
' Live well'--two words that transcend the highest philosophy
  It's up to you--unless you want to live in self-imposed misery
* This is number 10 in the series
  would it be a stop or pause?
   Only the future can tell
   Against such writing there are no known laws
MS Lim Apr 2016
The world  is but my perception-
beyond that nothing exists.
That my perception is totally wrong makes no difference.
221 · Mar 2016
MY HEART AND I
MS Lim Mar 2016
I need no introduction
to my own heart----it knows me
well enough but on many matters
it chooses to disagree

And declares its independence
'  You can't push me aside'  indignantly
'   Don't you ever forget---in your darkest hour
   I never abandoned you--it was I who set you free'.
220 · Mar 2016
FRAGMENTS FROM MY DIARY (9)
MS Lim Mar 2016
A flicker of light
is not seen or felt in the day
but shows its glitter
at night
MS Lim Nov 2015
1

The race is won not by the fastest
but by the one who is the wisest.

2
None can control the growth of population
'tis due to ubiquitous copulation

3

Note: knowledge does not set you free
the best path is through honesty

4  
      Hurry, hurry, hurry
      today's great malady

5
      In the club your friends were laughing at you
      They whispered 'Stale jokes, nothing ever new'
nil
MS Lim Dec 2015
Does the past have
an 'expiry date'
as in merchandise
'best consumed by...' ?

If I had no past
what am I then?
could it be obliterated and meet
with a sudden end?
* inspired by Rose H, a fellow-writer in HP
216 · Jan 2016
MASKS
MS Lim Jan 2016
Not one
but a mask over a mask
over a mask
which hides some

and the wearers
feel safer
stronger
assume greater
control over themselves
'  I'm a face within a face
within a face
a phantom within a phantom
within a phantom

you can peel a layer away
but not all
and I remain
a shadow within a shadow
within a shadow

one moment you see me
and another moment
I'm no longer there
an apparition within an apparition
within an apparition

I'll cause you confusion within confusion
within confusion

I'm obscurity within obscurity
within obscurity*

I'm a person within a person
within a person'.
* added upon
MS Lim Jan 2016
'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'
But I never go there
No bird in my hand (what 'two'?)
And tell me, how does one capture a bird in the air?
215 · Mar 2016
WALLS
MS Lim Mar 2016
Walls
divide borders
walls
they
separate
people
they alienate

walls
do not speak
but they hurt
and torment
in their grim silence
' verboten'
' no entry'
' go away'
' you aren't one of us'

the worst of walls
are those built
around the heart
they grow impervious
they are impregnable

walls are the refuge
of those who can't feel anymore
(they might as well have faces
constructed from concrete and mortar)

because I love you
no wall do I need
I'm an open sea
ready
to  receive you
as you step into my watery bed
in the sweetest embrace
face to face
in complete silence
that calms
every single wave

love knows no barriers.
215 · Dec 2015
LIMERICK (3)
MS Lim Dec 2015
Three men went to sea
John, Paul and Henry
There was not enough food and they fought
The weather was unbearably hot
They blasphemed:  hell is a better place to be!
214 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (10)*
MS Lim Mar 2016
Courage speaks loudly
but patience is quiet and infinitely stronger
* no more, at least not for now
MS Lim Jan 2016
'People in glass-houses should not throw stones'
What a great piece of advice
Last week I threw a stone at my neighbour's
I've built steel bars all over my house---I am wise.
MS Lim Mar 2016
Come, share my dreams
never mind our wrinkles and sunken cheeks
let old age be but a metaphor
our love grows more warm and tender  and the sweetest language speaks.

Come, share my dreams
if there are tears in my eyes, you will understand--you alone
we had laughter, we had many a sorrow
faults that had been (forgive me) were never yours-but my own.

Come, share my dreams
let me lift up my violin from the case
let me sing you the songs you loved most
for your love and devotion I scarcely could find the words to praise.

Come, share my dreams
they are as fresh and beautiful as all the years' gone before
come into the faithful heart that worships you
and all that it can say is:  'With each passing day, I would love you more'.
MS Lim Mar 2016
Don’t compare with others
only
compare yourself with the standards you have set for yourself
208 · Dec 2015
COULD I BE A WRITER?
MS Lim Dec 2015
Could I be a writer?
only five in a hundred are so
am I a writer?
the honest answer is 'No'

but I am not quitting
I'll still keep my pen
the tears from my ink would some day
hopefully make me a better man
nil
MS Lim Jan 2016
'  Mum, what should I do
  Now that I'm married to Lucy?'
' Son, do what you may
   But never be like your daddy'.
204 · Nov 2015
STOPPING BY*
MS Lim Nov 2015
Stopping by in quest of wonder
is ever
a new experience
never
ceases
to delight
he who knocks on life's door
is granted entry--be it day or night
* inspired by Hanna Mae Mata, a fellow-writer.  I have told her about this little poem
204 · Mar 2016
FRAGMENTS FROM MY LIFE (4)
MS Lim Mar 2016
Is this true in the lives of so many?
        ' I'm so busy
        Minding the matters of others
        I've no time left for me'
202 · Jan 2016
ZEN (2)
MS Lim Jan 2016
Ev'ry thing is now
quintessence is the moment
the mind is empty
202 · Nov 2015
THE DAY
MS Lim Nov 2015
Every day
is a new territory
what would it be?

terrain
not the same--never-
what should I endeavour?

my heart
with so many a string
what would it sing?

my hands
willing
doing what thing?

my words
many or few
am I saying something new?

among people
at home, in the streets and the work-place
would I act with warmth, sincerity and grace?

to myself
I must answer-truthfully
did I act dutifully and compassionately?
NIL
202 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (9)
MS Lim Mar 2016
'It must be true
as not everyone can be fooled'
202 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (7)
MS Lim Mar 2016
My dog looks glum
as it can read my feelings
MS Lim Nov 2015
Anyone and everyone can write
what percentage do you think is right?
nil
200 · Jan 2016
ZEN (3)
MS Lim Jan 2016
No questions are asked
no answers are expected
life is what it is
200 · Dec 2015
FANTASY
MS Lim Dec 2015
Fantasy
sometimes
at odd times
seems so real-
at least for that moment
reason suspended
judgment abandoned
my legs tremble
my palms are cold
a flush appears
in my face
I feel dizzy
I can't think
lost and bewildered
eyes transfixed
feasting
on that face that appears
suddenly from nowhere
so exquisite
so angelic
so tender
so dreamy
(she is everything I want
she is perfection
personification
of beauty beyond the finest words
of the best poet
yes,  at this moment
it's only she
the world doesn't exist anymore)

this is not a dream
no, I am not dreaming
(I pinch my arm to be sure)

imagination takes its wild amorous leap
the heart pounds
in some strange anticipation
is it rapture?

if only she would look at me
give me a nod
a smile
send me a 'yes'
or 'who are you?' message
through her eyes

but she stands there
her eyes seem far away
(look at me--I am just a few yards away
standing opposite you)
she hardly moves
(I think she looks
somewhat sad-
has she been hurt by love
as I have been?
if that were so
we have a reason to tango..)

suddenly her face brightens up
she looks away
waves to someone

in seconds
her man appears
she rushes to him
cries our her heart-
'darling I've waited a long time
I thought you would never come'
then she kisses him
so passionately
as though that would be their last

I am a loser
a loner
one who lives
in fantasy
NIL
198 · Jan 2016
ZEN (10)
MS Lim Jan 2016
Such-ness is such-ness
not such-ness is not such-ness
the mind has no say
197 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (5)
MS Lim Mar 2016
I can't abandon my tears
because each is my friend
MS Lim Jan 2016
' Dad,  what should I do with my life?
Please advise me'
' Son,  do whatever you may-
But never marry'.
197 · Jan 2016
DIARY (8)
MS Lim Jan 2016
The deaf and dumb person makes the perfect neighbour.
MS Lim Nov 2015
If you are dead, you are no longer alive
If you are alive, you are not dead
Ipso facto (what's so hard to understand?)
What further light can philosophy shed?
nil
194 · Nov 2015
'LESS'
MS Lim Nov 2015
' LESS'
A little word
So easy to express
It's simply called
' Less'.

Just one word
Makes my life's strongest fortress
With none to strive
I have none to impress
nil
194 · Dec 2015
LIMERICK (4)
MS Lim Dec 2015
Her name was Nancy
The chatter-box of the city
Her husband could take it no more
Decided to marry the city's most famous *****
Believe me--this is a real story.
193 · Jan 2016
ZEN (8)
MS Lim Jan 2016
Clap with just one hand
imagine you hear a sound
this is classic Zen
193 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (8)
MS Lim Mar 2016
I walk in my garden
it seems to know me
MS Lim Mar 2016
Between courage and patience,
I choose the latter as it is more enduring.
186 · Nov 2015
NIGHT DIGS DEEP*
MS Lim Nov 2015
Night digs deep
into your sub-conscious
which was asleep
in the day
it's an intruder
which has singled
you out for reasons
you can't  understand
it wants to know
your hidden secrets
and would not let you rest
until its mission is fulfilled

perhaps stripped
of your false exterior
and as the dust of the day
has fallen on your weary eyes
and you have drunk too much
(in these dark, sombre and lonely moments)
to soothe your pain
your defence mechanism
has broken down
(what's the harm now
of baring your heart
to an outsider?
you no longer
belong to yourself
and are opening up
as though seeking ablution)  

so you have no fear
in inviting the night
to take a journey
through your buried past
with its frightful shadows
and bleeding wounds
( the truth is
you need someone to share your thoughts)

now you are addressing the night
which is all ears and a sympathetic listener
even close to being a friend:

what had I done?
failed to do?
why my wayward ways?
why my follies and unkindness?
why did I hurt
and why they hurt me?

I have a thousand 'ifs'
and ten thousand 'buts'
as I walk back
to the confusing and muddled corridors of the past
do you hear me?
do you sense my despair and anger?
do you feel my hate raising its ominous head?
( by now, you are thinking I am a monster
and you are not wrong)

    You asked me
'Are you seeking redemption?
or is it too late now?'

   ( another glass of whisky down my throat)

I am drunk, dead drunk
I can't think
and why am I treating you
like a guest?

leave me alone

the moon seems to darken
and the stars are pointing
their sharp fingers at me

is all this but
a bad dream?
* 10.52 pm,  Thursday, 19th November, 2015 Melbourne.
183 · Jan 2016
FROM MY DIARY (1)
MS Lim Jan 2016
But what is perfection? Can something be perfected---a novel, a poem, a symphony, a play, a dance, a painting, an invention…?

It seems to me 'perfection' is not achievable but only looms as a benchmark against which we subjectively measure our works.

It is in the realisation that what we have done is imperfect that we strive for a higher achievement----

most of us do that but as for me I never ever dare to think that what I have done is good enough--- it is a just a step forward.
180 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (2)
MS Lim Mar 2016
I read your letter
and couldn't hold back my tears
180 · Jan 2016
DIARY (7)
MS Lim Jan 2016
However mangy your neighbour's dog is,
don't comment
178 · Mar 2016
TEN WORDS (4)
MS Lim Mar 2016
The stars shine not only for me
but for all.
177 · Jan 2016
ZEN (9)
MS Lim Jan 2016
Spring comes without sound
clouds drift in no direction
the moon knows its place
177 · Jan 2016
FROM MY DIARY (3)
MS Lim Jan 2016
The truth will not set you free-
it will disgust you.
177 · Nov 2015
DECEPTION
MS Lim Nov 2015
You hear my pretty words
but can't read my mind
deception is my art
I leave truth behind

people love me
they say I am kind
poor believers
truth--blind!
nil
175 · Nov 2015
THE FOOL HAS NO ENEMIES
MS Lim Nov 2015
None  does care about the fool
no enemies come his way
he wears contentment and a self-satisfied smile
ye wise philosophers--what have you to say?
nil
173 · Nov 2015
WHY I WRITE
MS Lim Nov 2015
My pen will not rest
and I must write
my imagination drives me
words begin to see the light

My heart speaks to me:
avoid the wrong, do the right
through my writing I delve into myself--
setting aside all that's blight.
NIL
172 · Jan 2016
ZEN (6)
MS Lim Jan 2016
Z is for zero
E is  for enlightenment
N is for 'no-mind'
171 · Jan 2016
ZEN (4)
MS Lim Jan 2016
The bird fears no heights
it knows not how to reason
'no-mind' is no fear
170 · Nov 2015
THE FOOL'S VIEW ON MARRIAGE
MS Lim Nov 2015
Marriage is fine
for some
but I had no education nor money
and far from being handsome
nil
170 · Jan 2016
Z.E.N.
MS Lim Jan 2016
Z is for zero
E is  for enlightenment
N is for 'no-mind'
170 · Nov 2015
THE FOOL'S HAPPINESS
MS Lim Nov 2015
The fool walks alone
     stripped of falsehood, envy and hypocrisy
     he finds happiness along the way
     though mocked and frowned upon by society
nil
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