Fighting for Christmas Faith

Fighting for Christmas Faith

By May Kwek

Christmas has come around again this year

But I must confess I feel no cheer

Rather it feels like Annus Horribilis

In other words, a horrible year

The world I knew has departed

Everything seems to have changed

Peace now feels on the brink of danger

And really, the world just got strange

So no tree decorates our home

The lights on the street are cold and empty

It all seems so superficial

Is this Christmas really?

I look up to the stars for an answer

Seeking the one from 2000 years ago

The one that guided to a poor manger

That winter night so cold

And it shone in my mind so bright

Such a contrast to the dark of night

And led me down a quiet walk

Where with a shepherd I could talk

But he never spoke a word

Only raised his arm and I knew

That soldiers descended to Bethlehem

To a thousand children slew

It was the first Christmas night

Forgot I truly had

That hope was born in a world so dark

And in a night so black

Yet how it shone, how it shone

The skies opened and the angels sang

There was a celebration in that little manger

Despite the world so dark and dank

Our hope is a hope for the ages

And Christmas’ joy from hereafter comes

So this Christmas will be graced with a feast nevertheless

And I’ll open the door to whoever and still say ‘Welcome’

Immanuel, God is with us

Still

Merry Christmas

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

Exhaustion

Exhaustion

By May Kwek 

The night air is quiet

And I neither sleep nor wake

But move on from task to task

As best as weak strength can make

Do I still have a soul I wonder

It feels hidden away somewhere

Leaving just the flesh and bone

And tired eyes to stare

Silently at the screen

I gaze from left to right

In this darkened place

It seems so very bright

My feelings have vanished

I don't seem alive

But this heart keeps beating

Against death it still strives

But my mind has deserted me

It's mired in grey fog

My limbs worn down and heavy

Like a pair of logs

Everything feels dry

The heart is withered and grey

The whole world feels

Like a cloudy overcast day

I don’t know who I am

I don't know where I'm placed

I seem to be some machine

Working with a plastic face

I can't start I can't stop

I can't stay I can't go

I need to find, where is it?

Where can I find my soul?

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

A home in the woods

A home in the woods

By May Kwek

I walked in the quiet woods

Where very few ever roam

And there amongst the towering trees

I made my soul a home

The blue sky was my ceiling

The trees my pillars and walls

The leaves my living carpet

And the roots were my floor

The sun was my lamp in the day

The moon and stars by night

The running brook was my playmate

Its song filled me with delight

The birds in the air were my wind chimes

Singing when the day was clear

The ferns my stairs to wonders

Everywhere far and near

The wind was my sweet refresher

My story teller in disguise

The creatures my daily companions

Rising with me at sunrise

Yes, I walked in the woods one day

And a sweet home I did find

For though my body departed

I left my heart and soul behind

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

Mirrors

Mirrors

By May Kwek

One dark moon lit night

I walked into a room filled with moonlight

And saw a hundred mirrors each standing on stands

Each one deliberately designed by man’s hand

I walked to the first at the side of the place

Held it up and saw a sliver of my face

‘Disabled’, the words on the mirror said

But I didn’t see me so the image I’d trade

I walked to the next by a painting strange

For the faces there always changed

I looked into the mirror and I saw my face

But not my features, my character, just my race

I set the mirror for race down

And next to some prayer beads another one found

‘Religion’ it said, ‘in most the world’

And saw a perfect but unreal girl

I moved on to the drawers and beside a dress

Found a full length mirror straining under stress

I tried on the dress, did a little turn

And saw in the mirror, not a person, just a woman

As I got rid of the outfit something caught my eye

From the moonlight bouncing off a mirror shy

Dusty and broken lying on the floor

I wondered what it was meant for

It was small and simple, but firmly held in place

Just enough to reflect my face

On its edges was carved one word: ‘humanity’

And when I gazed into it I saw me

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

A fickle twilight

A fickle twilight

By May Kwek

The deepening shadows

Are the herald of the night

The fading of the sky

Signals the twilight

Everywhere the sights darken

And shadows from their hiding emerge

Sparrows leave the darkening skies

And return home to their perch

The room grows ever darker

In the misty embrace of the night

Grey clouds from above

Cover the sun’s last waning lights

A low hum whispers

The steady beat of rain

Falling swiftly but quietly

Just outside the window pane

Yet the air feels quiet and still

Cool despite the absent wind

And the rain almost glides down

As though it’s always been

Then with a bright flash of lightning

Away disappears all calm

The sun bids a gleeful farewell

And the stormy twilight bids welcome

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

The world outside the window

The world outside the window

By May Kwek

In the room the world is dull

The walls and floor are plain

The lights are dimmed, the sound’s a constant hum

It always feels like it’s about to rain

Day in day out

Constant and unchanging

The sun rises and the sun sets

And you never hear a bird singing

Yet out of the corner of your eye

You can see the world outside

The bright sun on the green leaves

The brightening and waning of the day’s light

You see the leaves toss as they are blown

By a gale from the sea

You see butterflies and birds

Playing hide and seek amongst the trees

Storms arise and then subside

Behind that tinted glass

You see flowers bloom and then fade

And you find that you can trust

That though inside the world seems

To never ever change

But just outside the window

That world never stays the same

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek

The two roses

The two roses

By May Kwek

I held two roses in my hand

Both red and in full bloom

Both smelled as sweet as the morning

As soft as silk from heaven’s loom

Both spoke of hopes and dreams

Of wonders and possibilities

Yet when I held them up to the sun

Some differences I could see

For one had petals bent one way

And the other did not

One had green leaves a plenty

The other didn’t have a lot

The red for one seemed bolder

The other slightly pale

As a messenger of life and dreams

Perform better it seemed one will

Yet as I held both to my chest

Could I consider the other deficient?

For God made each rose bloom

And he made each one different

Copyright © 2016 by May Kwek