Heavens unfurl, clouds frenzy and angels quench disdain,
Wind unbolts time, to be a child again.
Elements render a heavenly opus,
Mind levitates, disentangling from worldly onus.
Waft of warmth drifts, reassuring divinity,
An aura familiar and soothing, summoning serenity.
A sip of rapture, a caress of warmth and an experience of calm,
A goblet of joy ensconced in my palm.
A goblet of peace...any guesses?
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Heavenly Fields of Peace
I wandered as a lonely cloud – a great man once said,
Scars from fumes of progress were not bred.
Caresses of zephyr have flirted with my wake,
Soothing rays have filtered through purity of my make.
Hues of time and season are my reflection,
Azure stretches and silvery countenance - companions of my affliction.
As the Age of success scathes my heart and renders me meek,
Heavenly fields of peace, reeking simplicity, is all I seek.
Scars from fumes of progress were not bred.
Caresses of zephyr have flirted with my wake,
Soothing rays have filtered through purity of my make.
Hues of time and season are my reflection,
Azure stretches and silvery countenance - companions of my affliction.
As the Age of success scathes my heart and renders me meek,
Heavenly fields of peace, reeking simplicity, is all I seek.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Ulysses By The Merlion
Found this poem on the plaque by the Merlion. The title of the poem is as the Blog Title says. The poem is written by Edwin Thumboo. It personifies this creature and the island nation.
I have sailed many waters,
Skirted islands of fire,
Contended with Circe
Who loved the squeal of pigs;
Passed Scylla and Charybdis
To seven years with Calypso,
Heaved in battle against the gods.
Beneath it all
I kept faith with Ithaca, travelled,
Travelled and travelled,
Suffering much, enjoying a little;
Met strange people singing
New myths; made myths myself.
But this lion of the sea
Salt-maned, scaly, wondrous of tail,
Touched with power, insistent
On this brief promontory...
Puzzles.
Nothing, nothing in my days
Foreshadowed this
Half-beast, half-fish,
This powerful creature of land and sea.
Peoples settled here,
Brought to this island
The bounty of these seas,
Built towers topless as Ilium's.
They make, they serve,
They buy, they sell.
Despite unequal ways,
Together they mutate,
Explore the edges of harmony,
Search for a centre;
Have changed their gods,
Kept some memory of their race
In prayer, laughter, the way
Their women dress and greet.
They hold the bright, the beautiful,
Good ancestral dreams
Within new visions,
So shining, urgent,
Full of what is now.
Perhaps having dealt in things,
Surfeited on them,
Their spirits yearn again for images,
Adding to the dragon, phoenix,
Garuda, naga those horses of the sun,
This lion of the sea,
This image of themselves.
I have sailed many waters,
Skirted islands of fire,
Contended with Circe
Who loved the squeal of pigs;
Passed Scylla and Charybdis
To seven years with Calypso,
Heaved in battle against the gods.
Beneath it all
I kept faith with Ithaca, travelled,
Travelled and travelled,
Suffering much, enjoying a little;
Met strange people singing
New myths; made myths myself.
But this lion of the sea
Salt-maned, scaly, wondrous of tail,
Touched with power, insistent
On this brief promontory...
Puzzles.
Nothing, nothing in my days
Foreshadowed this
Half-beast, half-fish,
This powerful creature of land and sea.
Peoples settled here,
Brought to this island
The bounty of these seas,
Built towers topless as Ilium's.
They make, they serve,
They buy, they sell.
Despite unequal ways,
Together they mutate,
Explore the edges of harmony,
Search for a centre;
Have changed their gods,
Kept some memory of their race
In prayer, laughter, the way
Their women dress and greet.
They hold the bright, the beautiful,
Good ancestral dreams
Within new visions,
So shining, urgent,
Full of what is now.
Perhaps having dealt in things,
Surfeited on them,
Their spirits yearn again for images,
Adding to the dragon, phoenix,
Garuda, naga those horses of the sun,
This lion of the sea,
This image of themselves.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
The Hong Kong Smile
Short trips always hold me in a perplexed state of affairs –
1. What do I pack? How many clothes?
2. More importantly – Will I get time to click?
Unfortunately, second turned out negative with regards to my latest peregrination - Hong Kong.
In retrospect, you could not censure me for having packed my accessories which included the not so ‘light ‘lens set, a camera body and tripod and hence reducing scope for carrying other accessories which would have been construed to be necessary under conditions classified as normal otherwise. With this back ground in mind, I would make an audacious assumption of having the readers pardon my trespasses towards a packing pattern which involves half the bag loaded with camera accessories.
The cramped land of skyscrapers awaited me as boarded SQ 870 from Changi International Airport. A minor blip which I had not foreseen awaited – I had not pre-informed the Singapore Airlines officials of my penchant or strict adherence towards vegetarianism. But SQ proved my loyalty worthwhile as they conjured a vegetarian food packet out of nowhere. ( A friend of mine disapproves of recurrent usage of the word ‘Conjure’ – but I shall withstand the wrath that may accrue, for the want of a better word).
Hong Kong awaited, smiling (I presumed ,veiled behind the immigration officials. The veiled smile seems to have been broadening as the official passed a stern look at my passport. No sooner the official was perplexed – perhaps trying to compare the picture that envisioned itself on the passport to the countenance that, very weirdly, was smiling at him. ( A brief back ground- it was my first trip to Hong Kong and Hong Kong allows visitors with the facility of Visa on arrival and pretty freely I heard)
And before I could realise the thickness of the veil, behind which I still presumed Hong Kong to be smiling, I was escorted to a room which read ‘Immigration Authority’. After a wait which seemed interminable and which was dotted by a grumbling Kenyan by my side, could not blame him it was almost 1 AM, an official; after having taken some time in spotting me in a group of 3 to 4 people, with the aid of the same photograph which had perplexed another official earlier; approached me.
Questions, which I would otherwise have considered invading my right to existence on planet earth barraged at me. I must admit, officials were pleasantly hospitable. Post the torturous wait I was eventually escorted, towards what I assumed the other side of the veil( Remember, the smile is on the other side of the veil!). I was beginning to see the curves of the smile as a hand obstructed my right to free space ahead, admonishingly directing me towards a path which did not allure my senses. My bags were screened and I was made to sit. Then an amazing thing happened.
I was directed to remove my shoes. Considering that I was not in the process which would require fruitful use of my shoes, I readily obliged. The officer then inspected the shoes, looked at it in awe – which I presume would be attributed to the brand name that flashed on them or at the thought of how an object so small could encase such an immensely repelling stink.
Finally!! I was let go – towards the smile – the smile which I presumed to be sustained despite the fact that it inched towards wee hours of the morning. How was that smile? Well that will be another story altogether!
1. What do I pack? How many clothes?
2. More importantly – Will I get time to click?
Unfortunately, second turned out negative with regards to my latest peregrination - Hong Kong.
In retrospect, you could not censure me for having packed my accessories which included the not so ‘light ‘lens set, a camera body and tripod and hence reducing scope for carrying other accessories which would have been construed to be necessary under conditions classified as normal otherwise. With this back ground in mind, I would make an audacious assumption of having the readers pardon my trespasses towards a packing pattern which involves half the bag loaded with camera accessories.
The cramped land of skyscrapers awaited me as boarded SQ 870 from Changi International Airport. A minor blip which I had not foreseen awaited – I had not pre-informed the Singapore Airlines officials of my penchant or strict adherence towards vegetarianism. But SQ proved my loyalty worthwhile as they conjured a vegetarian food packet out of nowhere. ( A friend of mine disapproves of recurrent usage of the word ‘Conjure’ – but I shall withstand the wrath that may accrue, for the want of a better word).
Hong Kong awaited, smiling (I presumed ,veiled behind the immigration officials. The veiled smile seems to have been broadening as the official passed a stern look at my passport. No sooner the official was perplexed – perhaps trying to compare the picture that envisioned itself on the passport to the countenance that, very weirdly, was smiling at him. ( A brief back ground- it was my first trip to Hong Kong and Hong Kong allows visitors with the facility of Visa on arrival and pretty freely I heard)
And before I could realise the thickness of the veil, behind which I still presumed Hong Kong to be smiling, I was escorted to a room which read ‘Immigration Authority’. After a wait which seemed interminable and which was dotted by a grumbling Kenyan by my side, could not blame him it was almost 1 AM, an official; after having taken some time in spotting me in a group of 3 to 4 people, with the aid of the same photograph which had perplexed another official earlier; approached me.
Questions, which I would otherwise have considered invading my right to existence on planet earth barraged at me. I must admit, officials were pleasantly hospitable. Post the torturous wait I was eventually escorted, towards what I assumed the other side of the veil( Remember, the smile is on the other side of the veil!). I was beginning to see the curves of the smile as a hand obstructed my right to free space ahead, admonishingly directing me towards a path which did not allure my senses. My bags were screened and I was made to sit. Then an amazing thing happened.
I was directed to remove my shoes. Considering that I was not in the process which would require fruitful use of my shoes, I readily obliged. The officer then inspected the shoes, looked at it in awe – which I presume would be attributed to the brand name that flashed on them or at the thought of how an object so small could encase such an immensely repelling stink.
Finally!! I was let go – towards the smile – the smile which I presumed to be sustained despite the fact that it inched towards wee hours of the morning. How was that smile? Well that will be another story altogether!
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