Gritted teeth grinding into rough cinders The ash of a thousand spurns in my mouth While you glory in the mud of smugness Your face cloying with its curdled pleading I hurl my hurts into this black abyss And now from this yawning, drowning distance I can feel the dark fire of thwarted hopes They scald with the flames of unholy wrath And this crown of envy melts my skull down With the heat of a thousand glaring suns That burns these sunken cheeks and boils away My angry tears - they wither with the light.
On a Happy Report
I am here to report
that I am happy
happy, happy beyond my wildest dreams
and that despite your
most fervent hopes
I did not fall into despair
I did not flail into disrepair
and despite your
most confident expectations
your leaving
was the best thing
that could have happened
your absence
was what truly saved me
I am here to report
that I need nothing from you
that my happiness no longer depends
on wondering if you are happy too.
On These Final Days
These final few days with you
I count the slip of each grain of Time
through this hollow corridor of darkened glass
Murky, the Future veiled beneath
the drip, drip, drip of the Flood to come.
Like Noah, I brood in the dark
for the deluge that awaits.
Tentang Wajah Yang Terpaling
Wajah terpaling
kembali kepadaMu,
Maha Pengampun!
On Monopoly
“Don’t be evil,” they
once said - now they revel in
paid monopoly.
On Thieves and Heroes (or, Twenty-Five Years and Forty-Seven Lies)
For twenty-five years, brisk demands
For change, for moral politics -
A reborn nation, confident
That Justice can stand unafraid -
Now finally claim centre stage
Your avatar can claim his prize.
But look - what fateful compromise!
What cruel bargain - filth-stained hands!
With faithless smiles, with hands aclasp
These erstwhile foes declare their pact
Amidst blithe claims of kingly seal
Your "unity" swept all sins clean
And now you reap your poisoned fruit
A bitter harvest for your sham
And twenty-five years' promises
Are trumped by forty-seven lies
The deathly grin unmasked, unshamed
Bears witness to your blotted vows
The thieves you pledged to overthrow
Walk lockstep with your heroes now.
On Constancy and Treachery
Give us a man of Constancy
A man of iron principles
A man to lead us broody souls
To sunlit hills of Certainty
Not this, this faithless wavering
This double-dealing Treachery
The eager overthrow of Truth
In service of Ambition's ring
You think that we will soon forget
That public minds are changeable
Well our Trust, too, is mutable
Your perfidy you soon will fret!
On Your Birthday (Malaysia Day)
On this day, many years ago
As we were reminiscing about you
You, beautiful adorable you
We realised that we had never known
Truly when and where you were born
You, fiercely loving you
We inherited you
When we bought our lovely home
And you had made our lives a joy
You, loyal joyful you
So on this day, many years ago
As we were thinking of you
We decided, fancifully
(and without consulting you)
that today would be your birthday
You, beautiful adorable you
You, fierce fierce you
You, forever loved you.
Tentang Kelemasan
Setiap hari bergelut tangkas Gigih tekun melawan diri Hampir menang hampir tertewas Lemas dalam perangkap hati.
Tentang Padang Balang
Singgah makan di Padang Balang Gerai Kak La pilihan tulen Tempat jatuh lagi dikenang Ini pula tempat bermain.