It feels millennia since I’ve walked those halls
The uni years of youthful politics
As if that young man was just someone else
In subtle ways, we’re prey to Time’s false tricks
How did that young man come to be this old?
Did Time strip off the masks that kept us bold?
#483 On the Pain that Purifies
The pain: it purifies and clarifies
Draws into keen attention Life's travails
A sharp and rude reminder to the wise:
The tallest trees can fall amidst the gales
Hold fast to Him, and He shall grant you ease
His Mercy shall bring suffering now to cease.
#481 On the Afterlife that Awaits
Submit to Him who gives you Will to choose
Surrender to Your Lord and his dictates
This Life is an illusion to bemuse
For after Life, the Afterlife awaits
We shall be judged by how we played His cards:
Eternal bliss, or flames and poisoned shards.
#480 On Your Grim Resolve (For Yong)
The fiercest indignation on your brow
That colours your defiance in fractured grace
“So young, and look at her, so shattered now!”
You see the pity writ on every face
And yet I see the grim resolve so plain
You will not cower, you’ll surely rise again!
#479 On the Blasphemy of Broken Promises
The blasphemy of broken promises:
Your gift to those of us who marched to drums
In concert with your foes that you now bless
While we who kept the faith are given crumbs
For power’s sake power is placed on pedestal
The sheen of reformation effaced, dull.
#476 On Your One Last Desperate Charge
With blackened hands and blackened hearts they sought
To drive the knife into your merry band
Imperilling what you have built, hard-fought
So now you mount your steed, a final stand
To guard against the vultures looming large
You gird yourself for one last desperate charge.
#471 On a Middle Aged Man Reading a Star Wars Compendium in the Local Library
He stares intently at the glossy page
And flips each one with reverent, gentle care
In his mind's eye, space battles take the stage
As Jedi knights wave sabres in the air
He hums beneath his breath a soaring theme
A joyful bask amidst a boyhood dream.
#470 On Hamilton
Frenetic storytelling at its best
A thrilling tale of raw ambition's rise
A young man triumphs at every arduous test
Ascension wins him gloried Fortune's prize
At dawn he met his final, storied end
A bullet rips apart his Life's long wend.
#466 On Playing the Part
“I am just way too old for this,” he thought
Reflecting sourly on the duties thrust
Upon his head, (their value close to naught),
And yet he knows to undertake he must
With every crown comes need for player’s art
To bear with empty pomp and play the part.
#465 On Settling, With No Regrets
Bereft of honeyed dreams, he settles down
Into the humdrum march of daily life
No grand ambitions now, no angry frown
Just living for today: no laboured strife
He finally learnt to live Life as it was
With no regrets, no dreaded sense of loss.