One day

Somewhere in the city
wind is blowing
a pair of hands playing the piano
creating beautiful notes
somewhere in the city
flowers are blooming
i remember a sweet moment
when petals float out of my dream
somewhere in the city
i always think of love
i always think of you
i’m thinking of a springtime
dripping in that corner
thinking of awakening a secluded secret
i poke my head out of the vista
colors are sober
drizzle is fluttering
the street corner is mottled
paint brushes
have laid the groundwork
but i don’t see you
i place a flower
tenderly between my fingers
which i think looks like you
your faint smile
like a season you took away
the tree in front of me
is left to memories
the love that was once forever
left in the long years
the piano of the city sings songs
greenery climbs up the window
into the text on a page that’s random
i got tired and took to napping in a wicker chair
when i wake up again the world is still here
i trace a shadow against the light
thoughts and branches
and leaves dwindle
a verdant piece
surrounds the quiet city
i only write chapters
with the heaviest water vapor
i cling onto the visuals
the last lingering sound on my fingertips.

 

 

Oceanic

Ocean in the legend
in foggy morning of yearning
close at hand
facts are drenched
before us
seagull hovers in low air
and stops calling
it lets us understand
we’re spinning in circle
quiet of the ocean
reflecting loneliness of the sky
numerous flames in proximity
sea water burning bright
sea breeze washes away
fatigue along the way
cleansing us
making us forget
remember, awaken
all the love is here
here is the starting point
the waves gently ask you
please leave on the shore
what you picked up on the road
i hope you’re willing
see the sea rolling, foaming, calming
the wine it makes for us
waits for us to savor
clouds and sails
flash back and forth
shining souls
and surprises
break through the soft orange
we open our window
smell the breeze that tells of love
and pain buried deep in memories
embrace the magnificent sunrise
close our eyes
open up the treasured joy
open our eyes
we’ve walked from yesterday
open all windows
embrace the rushing tide
we won’t be apart
like a baby and its bottle
shining lines of poetry will
walk with us through this time
this space of knowledge.

 

The briny

Left my sleeping heart

in the bedroom

i walked out alone

flowers and trees

standing by the road

listening to the footsteps

of wind

cloudless skies so empty

surface of the sea

no trace of waves

boat in the dock

unloads its burden

before hollow eyes

a teardrop

follows the current

floats away into

the ocean.

Aboard

Those seabirds
rise from the night
their wings brighter than the sky
people are walking already
on the deck getting busy
the morning mist
recedes toward the fading horizon
the world reveals
vastness of truth
boiling waves beating
on the starboard
like an invitation from deep below
sun comes out and mounts
above the mast
whitebait coruscate
another day
with a good heart
a good start
everything begins a new voyage
standing on the bow listening
the original splash of impression.

 

Out in the country

Quite unusual
this tree-lined trail
from the shaded wood
to the end of the field
it’s like flipping through
a fragrant book
when I first set foot on it
i am immersed in the perfume of
the paddy noiseless
occasionally there’s birdsong
no scorching sunlight
but there’s pieces of gold light
sifted from the foliage
sometimes farmers chat freely when they pass by
like a stone thrown into the river
it becomes calm and quiet again in an instant
grass and flowers on the roadside
countless heterogeneous insects hide
especially the cicadas behind the branches
monotonous scale often
interrupts a good verse you’ve thought of
yet it’s somewhat impressive
you somehow admire it
most beautiful view would be sunrise and sunset
when the shine is soft like eyes of a hers
the wind beautifully tranquil
like a lover’s clothes
sometimes it’s better with a little mist
then it is the entirety of poetry
the wind touches my mind
kisses my cheeks and lips
here i unload all baggage and laugh
arms outstretched to embrace the sky
gentle irrigation, indolent scarecrow
playing the refrain of agriculture
in the village.

Moody

Through the tunnel of dream
through the interpretation of steam
the craft of the city sprawling
like countless silkworms of spring
devouring the field inch by inch
digesting it into bits and pieces
of street and edifice
the city is a brilliant picture glaring
once rolled out the power of magic will be sharing
crisp and cheerful footsteps of winds on the fast lanes
leaves falling on parasols
from one end of the alley to the other
climbing up the window of a cafe
listening quietly to the whispers of the city
cordial conversations of all kinds of folks
the hand of the sun warm and generous
touching the balconies, windows, emotions
thoughts and longing
it’s the freedom of the kite that evokes
children’s laughter
it’s the oil, salt, vinegar and sauce
that awakens the nostalgia
of the cooking smoke
the city that i know
perhaps there’s many other
interpretations and colors
it’s a lipstick on sale
it’s the lemon tea just made
it’s the paragraphs of text
in a computer document
it’s deliberate negotiation
in the market
it’s concrete or abstract
cultural fragments
it’s the hazy or obvious
smartphone syndrome
in the end it’s perhaps
the ticking of all clocks on walls
introducing a vortex of gloom and bliss
sunken and lost
like a ship at the seabed
that sleeps when it’s tired
no longer running like years ago
half the manuscript lying in a file
a worm on the apple turning sour
a book that’s been put down
moonlight on blue curtains
nightdress with the introspection
and fragrance of hers
a puppy curled up in a soft chair
i have three minutes to think
about the world
two minutes to think of her
next minute i fall into the town of sleep
i seem to have found someone
but before i can open my mouth
i’m already worried about breakup
there are people as diverse and confused
there are some natural scenery unmoved
and there’s a silent sadness in the soul
an easy-going afternoon
all leisure and no homework
it’s time long enough
to repair every wing
every scale
every grain
the world is ticking faintly
the tenderness of a bed
airlifts a span of time like shipwreck.

©2021, ChinHooi Ng

Contented

There’s good in being awake
and in dreaming
when awake it’s the silence i read
I’m wandering
but i’m free
the abundance in dreams
tears and joy are all destined
freedom of dreaming i use
to contrive and conceive dreams
strong fragrance of dream i harvest
i pick and collect those favorite clips
i shuttle between
dreaming and awakening
the paint colors the eyes
bits and flecks of joy in the day
jump into loneliness of the night
embellishing this shiny
sparkling fun
this moment i am happy
a happier existence is also inevitable
perhaps the next minute
because the wheel of time
it never stops spinning does it
when you show up
it’s a surprise, a blessing, a gift
when you’re gone
it’s cause and effect, a caution, a wake-up call
seen or not
you are out there in the world
you take root, you sprout and blossom
and the outcome
still i can’t tell
if i still look forward to it
it seems there is no need
for an ending
no need to imagine a conclusion
the fruits will always ripen
and becomes heavy
in time
in every poem, every line
every time we look at each other
every time we rub shoulders
every time i miss you and wonder
everything is the consequence
of our choices and
us biding our time
i smile just because
you look at me and smile
the breaking of ice
reflects the moonlight
that turns into the jade beads
and flickers in the galaxy
i am satisfied because
you pick up a fallen leaf
put it into a themed fanfic
that story
of autumnal fantasy written by spring.

©2021, ChinHooi Ng

 

 

Sugar

I bite into an apple
I nibble a piece of mango
I chew a cherry
stirs of glucose and fructose
these whorls of sweetness though
are within my control
Hugging you would be
sweetness of a whole world
that whirls
sweetness that can’t be
stopped at will at all
it surrounds me
and drowns me
the sweetness of you melts
away countless winter nights
your sugar is infinite
they say happiness that comes from outside
is not easy to control but i
would rather be controlled by you
they say sweetness is ice-cream in my mouth
but apples, oranges and watermelons are cold
and your arms are so warm
i am neither clear-headed nor drunk
I don’t proceed nor beat
a retreat
snuggled in your arms to me is like
sweetness of a lifetime.

©2021, ChinHooi Ng

Bittersweet

The majestic colors
gradually
finally died down
shadows no longer
shelter each other
splashed ink of the mountains
begins
to wash away grievances
the season is clear
vast expanse of truth reveals
only deep blue
it lets you
remember what
something
enthusiasm and obsession
like collapsed horses neighing
late autumn nestled
lazily
in the tired waiting compartment
i snuggled
at the feet of late autumn
counting pleasant memories
drifting leaves tell of melancholy
and magnificence
flushing fruits
reduces both
melancholy and magnificence
inchmeal
to zero.

©2021, ChinHooi Ng.

To Nicole

Still I couldn’t forget

many things about you

i came back to the place

so the past appears

frame by frame

sitting under the tree

thinking of your smiling face

tomorrow i need to set off

the taste of this school i crave

don’t know when will be the next time

me six years ago

tracing the contours of yours

with the pencil of youth

bashful love germinated in the heart

i sat under that tree from early

in the morning

to watch you pass by

only to realize

there is no forever

time can’t be changed

I lost a love

I’m sorry you didn’t find out

blessings of today

written in the wind

that blows away yesterday

for us to take

bigger steps tomorrow

the sky at this moment

fragments of sunset

reflected on campus

illumines the bygone years

thoughts grow untrammeled

a dream that sleeps

at the tip of mind

written between these lines

if we should meet again

what a scenery it’d be

the most beautiful kind.

 

©2021, ChinHooi Ng