I dreamed I was a butterfly.
(Or butterfly was me.)
I fluttered by the golden sky,
The mountaintops, the sea.

I felt the warmth, the sweet caress,
The gentle breeze of love.
I knew there was no hell below,
No heaven up above.

I spread my wings and let it go,
Forgetful of the past.
I dreamed I was a butterfly.
I fluttered – free at last.

I drifted on the salty waves,
Beset by melting ice…
Amid long years and short days
I freely cast my dice.

My dreams came true, and all at once
The evil was no more…
I let it wash all over me,
And then – I crashed ashore.

Anon, reborn, I dreamed again.
(Or butterfly dreamed on.)
My whole existence – pure as Zen,
Unique as a black swan.

The shards, dispersed along the way,
I gathered – one by one.
The kintsugi of life I made
Was brighter than the sun.

The silent flapping of my wings,
Akin to sands of time,
Sustained a galaxy of springs –
Both mortal and divine.

I ambled on, both dry and drowsed…
The point of no return –
I felt at home… When I aroused,
A better world was born.

My dream, however short it was,
Is now a part of me.
Now, conscious of a grander cause,
I flutter by so free.

You know nothing* – she said,
Stepping out of the flames.
At that moment I knew
We ain't playing no games.

With desire I burned.
Her immaculate blaze –
Nothing else did I yearn.
Pure as pharos her gaze.

… And we danced, and we swerved,
Glints and flickers beside.
So august our verve
Which no woe would betide.

…In a flash she took off –
The mirage molt away,
But my sorrow paid off –
I live on for the day.

11-3-2017

The sea is mild to-night,
The tide is full, the Moon lies fair
Upon the Straits.

Below the hanging tree I wept
Remembering the past.
There was a secret I still kept
Or – it kept me aghast.
A secret so ingrained in me,
An ache, a pain so deep,
A nightmare all day long for years
I could not fall asleep.

Beside the hanging tree I crept
My world – a shrunken hiss…
That fateful night I found the cure
Was in the air I kissed.

Beneath the hanging tree I dreamt
Of stranger things to come.
But all my dreams were swiftly swept
With shafts of morning sun.

Behind the hanging tree I stepped
And took the leap of faith.
And now I know you are to come
To this most sacred place.

The memory of ones we lost
Will never fade away
And neither will our love for them –
Not for a single day.

We might seem peaceful, fair enough,
But we have shown our teeth.
When freedom cried and duty called
We chose to clench our fists.

With every step along the way,
With every drop of blood
We learnt there was a price to pay.
We hardened our hearts.

With every cut and every bruise
And every shot we took
Our numbers grew, so long the queues
That everywhere you looked
You’d see the mothers and the sons,
The daughters and the dads,
Their fiery eyes, their daring hearts,
Their disregard for death.

With every blast and every hit
And every shrapnel piece,
The hopes went high, the dreams grew big –
Our dreams of lasting peace.

But first there was a war to win,
An ego to submit,
Old gods to cast aside for good
And fears to defeat.

A score of scores to be paid off,
A destiny to meet,
Old shackles to be shaken off,
A brave new world to greet.

And long and hard the battle went,
The toll is still unknown…
But to this day we reap the fruit
Of seeds of love we’ve sown.
…
And now, around the hanging tree
We join our hands
As we recall what made us free,
What brought peace to our lands.

I smile as I linger on –
A minute, maybe five
As I recall the war we fought,
The sacrifice, the lives.

I weep no more, so wild and free,
And all I ask of thee:
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?

Come into the waters of mine,
Fly into the air so fresh,
Dig into the soils so fine,
And maybe you will find the truth.

We all fight our demons… At times, they prevail.
And once we give in, we are fatefully jailed –
By hatred and envy, by lust and ill will,
By malice and greed… Can we bear such a levy?

What happens to us should we rid ourselves
Of the duties, the vows, the commitments we’ve taken?
How long will it take for us to succumb
To the pleasures of flesh and be ever forsaken?
How long till we cry out for help, our tongues
Tied firmly in place by our own repletion?
How long till we see the daylight and admit
There is no going back to relieve our division.

Yet we dream and we hope, and some pray for redemption.
We fight back… And the demons return to the void.
And no fairies exist – not in our dimension.
Yet the demons are real. Hardly can we avoid
The temptations of power, the concoctions of plenty,
And the fight carries on to this day, far and wide.
Every crevice and nook, every palace and shanty
Hold the ones craving nothing but to bask in the light.

19 II 2017