Kaya sungguh khazanah Tuhan
Rezki datang tiada diundang
Tumbuh harap di hati rawan
Bagai bunga mekar berkembang
Mekar kembang tiada terkilan
Besar hati menadah budi
Undang tuan hamba junjungkan
Moga rezki kemas terpatri.
On Raindrops in Bloomsbury
Faint droplets fall in
Whispered hush - my eyeglasses
Mist up, smeared with wet.
On Knopps’ Iced Chocolate
Under torrent lash
Of solar glare, I sip my
Cup of languid bliss.
On The Fleeing Doe
She fled away in
The night, doe-like, chased away
By her Growling Bear.
On The Miracle of Modern Flight
Beyond mere sight, the drone of jet-heeled thrust
Propels these numbered souls through sky, through clouds
Aboard this metal wing we embarked, flocked
And flecked with hopes and honeyed dreams ablaze.
Hurtling through the smoky night, we sail thus
Within tubular confine, nonchalant
At the miracle of modern flight, such
Being this, our present state of blessed grace.
Lives thus emplaced in Techne’s steady hand,
We embrace the calm slumber of meek souls.
On New Adventures
Always, the best things in our lives, they come
Unbidden, unasked, unexpectedly.
What does it take for the pale slivers of
Random good fortune and fate to greet us
And beckon us with grace and welcome smile?
How is it that such blessings often bid
Welcome only once Time has done its work,
When Aeschylus’ awful grace has worn down
Grieving hearts into spartan fists, never
Falt’ring in their austere, singular task
Of mournful remembrance for what once was?
And yet, and yet - Fortuna will demand
That we wipe our tears and hoist sails anew:
Fresh winds now come to stir this placid sea
A new adventure calls - we sail today.
On Coffee
I swill down a last
Gulp of this black elixir.
Exhale: Life goes on.
Tentang Rindu Yang Bakal Terubat
Palu gendang bertali pantas
Alun degup berderap kencang
Hati girang meletus deras
Rindu hati bukan kepalang
Jasad jauh beribu batu
Namun pisah hanya sejenak
Dua hati terjalin satu
Takkan lerai walau terjarak
Terbang tinggi sayap garuda
Depa besi membelah awan
Kanda datang bertemu dinda
Kasih tulus mengubat rawan
On Burying a Father
He buried his father today, hot tears
Streaking down his cheeks as the smoky haze
Of incense and burnt flowers bathed him and
His fam’ly with aching, foreign sadness.
His father is gone, and he can’t fathom
Why his heart feels muted, mutilated.
On Being Alone
What does it mean to be here alone?
I see and hear the hubbub, the smiles
And laughter of people less lonely
Than I am. I marvel at their ease.
That calm sense of knowing that they are
Exactly where they need to be, with
The people they ought to and want to
Be with. I imagine what it must
Feel like, to be like them, to be them.
My envy eats me like a cancer.