daydreaming

I saw a cloud within the sand
Beneath my boots today.
It took me to another land
That was pink and blue and grey.

A mystery, the night of stars
And quite a strange melancholy,
That strummin' on my teak guitar
Would spell my greatest folly.

For in that land as bright as light
Sing out, oh we could not.
We yearned and waited for the night,
When light was light, no more.

The princes, horses and their foxes
Chased me down that road,
With my teak guitar and lacquer boxes
Filled with quite a precious load.

In the Land of Dreams and Sand and Cloud
I ran from the bright lights
And from wicked men in holy shrouds
While orchids bloomed within my sight.

And then, as if by magic chance,
Saved by my guardian's chalice,
To sing the praise of circumstance
With my guitar, against their malice.

Lances, swords, and spears of death
Fell upon me that hour.
And then, faith filled, (I had some left.)
I sang that hymn of p'wr.

So those same clouds, to me they came,
The ones of pink and blue and grey.
They shielded me with shadows tame
In a stange and quiet way.

But still I shut my eyes in fear,
Tho' fear itself feared them no more.
They beckoned me to open, dear!
And hide in dreams no more.

green on green and gray

a leaf fell in a tank today
of different shades of green
soft and supple tendons
rest upon rigid heavy steel.

green, transient.
youth, passing.
thoughts flood as
engine rumbles and
steel chassis roars along
violently

strength, could it be?
in unlikely tenderness
cool soft alive
in a dream, within
vulgar noises and coarse shambles

don't wake me up.

Dust and Echoes.

the old old School Hall
was bigger than i remembered.
it stretched beyond, behind, and high up.
dusty cold walls holding
dustier memories.

the old old School Hall
was bigger than i remembered.
larger than life, it seemed
days of granduer behind her
when dreams and voices
cluttered her veins.

now, the cracks and crevices can hear
no more laughter.
but somehow i know that she
must still remember
youth, a fluffy pink cloud
that once was, alas

clouds are transient.

and i bid the old old School Hall
one last farewell-
too small a tribute to
too large a hall.
she seems to echo, ever so softly.
or maybe it's just me.

stepping out slowly
i leave a sigh behind.

A Night Of Ten Thousand Tales

Sheesha puffs waft coyly, curling,
wrapping in warmth
Heady and seductive
A woman's flesh pressed against
His Trunket of True Treasures, beholding
dreams of old

that waft

coyly, seductively

as the fragrant sheesha clouds.

And clouds are never

Quite the same.

His gaze turns from the steady beat

of writhing flesh and perilous

Quests for silver, to the

fragrant mystery, heartbroken.

they were gone

taxiride

He tells me
About how he used to be a seaman
And see the world;
Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Europe, Africa.

Then he tells me about how, well,
he still gets to travel now
And see
Pasir Ris, Hougang,
and Bedok.

A chuckle follows
Sincerity painted
In lines of sacrifice.
Humour salted
In teeth, incomplete.
A chuckle.
Resignation
and sweet surrender.

Peaceful sodium lamps
Whiz by.