NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #30 - over the rooftops

Whoa! the final day. usually, i will write something light or personal for the final NaPo poem. but the flu is still dragging me along and i am happy to produce anything at all...



over the rooftops


over the rooftops from which the blackbirds have passed
the clouds hung like a wet veil as the evening retreated
a flash of lightning lit up a second, white as a shroud
the wind moaned by, trapping dust and leaves in its blast.


30/04/2012
**********








© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #29 - for a friend

these past few days of my sick leave, i spent a lot of time sleeping. and thinking. a lot of things. mortality , for instance.

a friend had passed away (a few years earlier). he was very fit, doesn't smoke or drink, was a commando in the armed forces. liver cancer struck him down. it doesn't make sense to us, his friends.

one of the prompts at the NaPoWriMo site was to write an elegy. i guessed this is for him.



image by dsnake1
done with Sketch at pencilmadness.com



for a friend



it's very
unexpected

like a glass
slipped out
of your
hands
and

shattered.

mortality
is
like that.

the alarms
are there

like leaves
falling out
of trees

but still

the end
came too
fast

like this rain
that keeps
pouring

suddenly

out of the blue.

leaving us
with
just memories
of what

a great
individual

we have
lost.




drafted 09.12.07
revised 29.04.12







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #27 - a dog was barking

i was ko'ed by the flu yesterday, and missed a day. my thoughts are not exactly bright today...




photo by dsnake1


a dog was barking


a dog was barking

4 am
i woke up in sweat
drenched sheets
unseen insects crawling
on moist skin

through the open window
with no curtains
the bark of a dog
primorial, fearful
9 floors below

it is said
hounds can see
things that humans can't
and won't want

a dog was howling

as i sat in the dark
on crumpled sheets
scratching off
imaginary bugs

through the open window
with no curtains
a rusty sky
threathening with the unknown
faint light cast
on dark walls
like wet paint

the dry mouth
begged for a drink
as curious eyes
tugged for a peep
to the street below
yet was afraid
of what it may find.

as i sat and cursed
in all the languages i know

a dog barked again.


27/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #25 - how is your maths today?

a little bit of madness (or a rant) today...




image by dsnake1
done with Sketch at pencilmadness.com


how is your maths today?


a schoolboy was talking to his friend.
how is your maths today?

i wanted to tell him it's terrible.
it just don't add up.

i am spending more than i earned

i am supposed to work eight hours
but today it's something like nine.
or ten.

and no extra pay

so my maths ain't too good today.

and it's gonna get complicated

taxi fares has gone bonkers
train and bus fares have drifted north
electricity tariffs are going up again
after how many agains.
inflation rate is only 5.2%

so my maths ain't too good today.


25/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #24 - soap bubbles

another shape poetry attempt. i don't think it's too good, doesn't look too round (more like a lantern) but i am tired from work...



soap bubbles


      spheres
    lighter than
   air reflecting
  rainbows alive by
 some laws of physics
 riding with the wind
  the breeze, the sun
   children   squeak
    little hands out
     stretch trying
       to catch a
         rainbow


24/04/2012
==========







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #23 - untitled

a haiku today...

image by dsnake1

done with Reptile



untitled


ripples
on the lotus pond -

the moon's smile widens


23/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #22 - sounds

today's poem came about when i visited the oneword site for a prompt. the word was "sound". add in a bit of people-watching and there's this list poem...



sounds


the truth is it can be very noisy in the morning.

for example, i was just grabbing a cup of tea this morning at the coffeeshop, where besides the clink of porcelain cup on saucer, there were the squawks of magpies quarreling, the stray cat at my feet begging for food, looking up with pitiful eyes, a plaintive little meow from its throat, the tirade from the cabbie a few tables away, spewing expletives and coffee vehemently, the rustle of morning papers, the armchair politicians voicing their opinions on national policies, the soap drama running on the tv on the wall, its wash of music and conversation no one was listening. and then a heavy screech of brakes as a van tried to run a red light unsuccessfully at a pedestrian crossing nearby.

so when i left, the cat had already given up on me and was eying the magpies intently, not making a sound.


22/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #21 - how deep is

something melancholic from me today...



how deep is


how deep is your love?
down in the subway tunnels
on late nights
some nights
aimless rides
the tunnel walls
just inches
from my face
flashing by
our lives
flashing by
till it all ends
on a bleak night
and i am
all alone
in the
rumbling wombs
of the trains
that song
playing
on the tracks
how deep is your love?
till i resurface
to the neon
drenched streets
to the city lights
starlight


21/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #20 - the old gangster

sometimes, people-watching can inspires...



the old gangster


where once his panther tattoo
had flexed on sinewy skin
on his arm is now
a faint shadow on
weathered leather
and dementia
had banished
the fights and bullying
the bearing scrapers
acid bulbs
and police sirens
to the lost alleys
of his mind

and now he sits
at the coffee shop
hunched, alone
slowly sipping his coffee
waiting
for the last parang slash
to fall on
his head.


20/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #19 - monostich #8

a monostich today...

image by dsnake1

done with software from pencilmadness.com



monostich #8


button-weeds sunning in a field start to nod off.


19/04/2012








© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #18 - these words

i have completed a 3-days course today, improved my vocabulary a little bit...



these words


these
words
that do not
easily roll off the tongue
           Automated external defibrillator

that trip
      pulseless ventricular tachycardia

raise an eyebrow
           glyceryl trinitrate

and one that sounds
like a chant
breathless

one and two and three and four and five and one and..

words
if i had
known earlier
and know
how to use them

my father
might have lived longer.


18/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #17 - qing ming, at mt. vernon

feeling the strain...



qing ming, at mt. vernon


up above a lone fighter jet
wings towards its base
dragging a sonic boom
over the green of the cemetery

the blackbirds are startled briefly
then return to eyeing
the offerings laid out neatly
to the dead

the faithful have come
bearing food and paper currency
their loved ones on the other side
must not go hungry

butterfies flutter in the sun
they said butterflies
are the souls of the departed
today they have come out to play

up above a lone C-130
lumbers towards a foreign land
dragging a sonorous rumble
over the green of the cemetery

17/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #16 - monostich #7 - dusk

i came home one evening and the sunset was truly gorgeous...

image by dsnake1

made with Sketchpad from mugtug.com





monostich #7


dusk an egg yolk over the rooftops.






i spent more time doing the picture than the words. :)


© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #15 - Sunday is not a good day to write poetry

bear with the gibberish today...



Sunday is not a good day to write poetry


Sunday is not a good day to write poetry,
because if you need to work (like i do),
the day is white-washed, you reach home frayed,
you think of food, and bed, and not poetry
(unless the muse sympathises with you).

And if you need not work, you want to play,
suddenly the day flaps by very quickly,
(remember, there's always not enough time for fun)
unless the muse tags along, which is unlikely,
you may have a couple of lines, or stanzas
about your great BBQ party, or that hike in the hills,

otherwise

Sunday is not a good day to write poetry.


15/04/2012
**********



amazing! the muse pitied me. however, i will be attending courses (with tests, oh man!) for the next three days, so Monday to Wednesday too may not be good days to write poetry...






© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #14 - siege

weeds, oh weeds, they will survive...



siege


a single flower
peeps from a crack
in the asphalt

a button-weed
nondescript

as the morning sun
flexes its muscles
gears up for war

the single flower
digs in, prepares
to defend

the long day

ahead


14/04/2012
**********









© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #13 - playground

a bus ride on a hot day inspired this...



playground


mid day
over the playground

cherry red slides
lemon yellow bars
china blue skies

silent

not a single child


13/04/2012
**********








© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #12 - tampines leisure park, 7 a.m.

nature study...



tampines leisure park, 7 a.m.


the rain drops on

         bougainvillea
        and
            ferns

crystals

soon to be
plucked

by

the darting fingers
of the morning

             sun


12/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day # 11 - she sang of seagulls

i wanted to write this for some time. there were bits and pieces of phrases and ideas in my notebooks, so today i gathered them together, threw out some, added in some new lines, and yes, i was quite satisfied with the result.

it was for a woman who had changed my life for the better...

photo by alvimann

image from morguefile.com

she sang of seagulls


she sang of seagulls
snd blue skies
resoluteness
and her need to fly
soared with the wind

on wings of light
and should you fall
she said
pick yourself up
like those gulls

that braved the squalls
the dark seas
spread your wings
glide with the clouds
and be free

and someday, she said
if i am not with you,
and you missed me
look up at those gulls
by the sea.

one of them
could be me.


11/04/2012
**********


-- to carol


"seagull", sung by Jenny Tseng.





© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #10 - writer's blog

i thought i may have to skip a day today...



writer's blog


i have been staring
at my paper & pencil
for the past half hour

now i noticed
the pencil is quite blunt
my fingernails need trimming

still the words hang
at the tip of the tongue
and then dry up

maybe it's easier
to squeeze water
from a rock



10/04/2012
**********




the wall was broken through somehow...




© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day # 9 - cockroach

image from visipix.com


This is a "follow-up" to yesterday's poem. You have to admire these hardy creatures...



cockroach


on the hunt for food -

the day after
Armageddon.


09/04/2012
**********







© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day # 8 - I is for Bugs

i think the prompt for day 6 at the NaPoWriMo site was to write a poem on animals. okay, okay, i know this is Day 8...



I is for Bugs


I is for bugs
In that
They are
Icky
Irksome
Irrevalent

But Impossible to Ignore.

They bite you, suck you
Fly before your eyes
And make you
Itch
Irritated
Ill-tempered.

Worse, they Insult your Intelligence.

You find it
Incredible
Incredulous
Implausible

That they were here
Hundreds of millions of years
Before you.

I is for Insects.


08/04/2012
==========






© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012

NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day #7 - untitled

a haiku today...



untitled


waiting for the bus-

shadows in the evening sun
                         lengthening.


07/04/2012
**********






© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012