all that pain
and belittlement
you served me
day and night
when no one
was looking
made the little
man within you
feel much, much,
much bigger
but now you
stand before me
weeping
with no teeth
and the big man
within me
has forgiven you.

There is no insight
In illusion of stories
Beclouding your universal mind
Machination excavates
The earth of character
Breaching tenor of vision
The burning candle weeps
Tears of unfulfilled sapience
In the stillness of night
The fabrication of perception
Disempowers awareness
Compromising clarity
It was yesterday
When roads were unpaved
The spirits untamed
Wise ones were held in high regard
The birds displayed the way
And the Earth rolled unfazed
But today
Today is the face of tomorrow
Promoting future's paradise
And demoting present's purview
Today is the remnant of yesterday's joy
And the prelude to tomorrow's ploy.

My earthly desires dwindling day by day
I only fancy food, rest, light exercise
And some simple amusement such as
Writing poetry and listening to music
That are necessary for staying aware.

How time flies I have yet to comprehend
Unimaginable how years
Are packed into days
And diligence of days
Forgotten in a flash.

Luckily I still have all my senses intact
And can't complain about health issues
Nevertheless, I won't attempt to take
Flight of stairs for more than two floors
If I don't have to for I get winded
Due to a lifetime of smoking
As for walking, I can do a mile each day
Which enhances my thought process
And I am grateful for that
I do not wish to reach a stage
When others need to take care of me
If there are any "others" of course
And willing to do so.

I have lived my life one day at a time
More precisely, moment to moment
My philosophy of life dwells in the Now
Never has gone beyond it and never will
Such is the order of spiritual reasoning
Keeping one eye on life, one eye on death.

I have a penetrative mind  
Soaring beyond the clouds
Telepathizing with birds
Acknowledging their flair
They keep me company
These paradigms of elegance
I have learned a lot from them
Through unspoken words
I am just a secretary taking down
Their inspiring instructions
Which may lead to a type of poetry
Hopefully enjoyed by others
I hope I can do this for as long
And as far as possible
Because nowadays at my age
Anything can go wrong at any time
This is the struggle one has to deal with
When getting old.

In the end we are the sum
total of the efforts we invested,
or conversely our failed deficiency
in that regard. With no one to
appreciate or blame, but ourselves.

The path strewn with hurdles and gravels
40 years is a long way to travel
Two souls sewn with love and peace
Two hearts dipped in bliss
Two minds not always in same strength
But determined within to walk the length.

40 years of building the nest
Patience and endurance put to hard test
Before one day the saplings become a tree
Heart upon heart two becomes three
Through fall and rise and sun downpour
Years flew as the three becomes four.

It's no easy work to raise a family
In all sadness live strong and happily
Blocks are thrown doubts are cast
Moments of life try to break the trust
But we didn't bow continued the thrive
A grownup family now, we number five.