Confronting Time

Confronting Time

By May Kwek

Oh ask me not, not today

For my spirits have quite flown away

It flew out the window, into open air

And where it went, I know not where

For it told me not before it left

And it's left me quite bereft

For here I have to sit alone

And to the hours quietly roam

The hours pass, where've they gone?

For time just ticks on and on

And it cares not what I have to say

I cannot plead it to stay

Oh time! Oh time! Oh ruinous time!

Thou shall be my enemy I find

For you steal from pleasure and add to woes

When I find that you must go

And leave me not with a quiet hour

To just enjoy the present's power

As I rush from task to task

It did not seem too much to ask

But no, you will not listen to me

You cannot talk, you only flee

Treating my words as if not heard

Oh time, you're a hopeless coward!

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

A Rainy Afternoon

A Rainy Afternoon

By May Kwek 

The rain hums just outside

The world’s cast in a grey light

As the clouds shift in the unshifting sky

And the wind passes sleepily by

The air is cool, the breeze is sweet

The earth and rain in rhythm meet

To form a soothing symphony

Which fills the ears so pleasantly

To this stage bold birds fly

Between the rain, against the sky!

And to those peering through windows

Their forms appear as darting shadows

That dance and rise, that swoop and fall

There for a moment or maybe not at all

For the rain provides its own curtain

And behind its veils the dancers are hidden

Till the rain eases and all we can see

The buildings, the people, the birds, the trees

And with one last chord that strains and falls

The symphony sounds its final call

For the wind soars high and blows away

The clouds to rain another day

And as they drift away without a care

They leave a memory that they were there

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

The Train Station

The Train Station

By May Kwek

I wait at the station

My ticket in my hand

For this paper tears and sweat

And years of my life were spent

So now I can take a train

And go off into the unknown

To the places I’ve never seen

And every hope that’s grown

A train arrives clad in gold

It brightly shimmers and shines

Surely it must go somewhere

Really great and fine

I hand the conductor my ticket

He does not allow me inside

For he says my ticket

For this train isn’t right

So with regret I watch the train go

And vanish into the mists

And wait for yet another

Certain there’ll be nothing amidst

A train of silver comes

Sparkling like a dime

I hand the conductor my ticket

But this train isn’t mine

So I go back to waiting

Watching people come and go

So many board, all going somewhere

While I am waiting so

Stuck on the platform

Watching wrong trains go pass

Platinum, diamond, even lead

Hoping they’ll be mine at last

But they’re not and I have to watch

As I stay despondently still

Watching as people move on and go

And wondering if I ever will

Again and again I try

But the answer always seems to be

“This train does not go where you’re going”

“So wait for the next please”

So I wait and I wait

Agony eating at my soul

I’ve spent my life on this ticket

Is it as worthless as fools’ gold?

But each conductor tells me wait

The train that is mine will pass

For surely this stillness in time

Cannot forever last

And finally a train rolls in

Its carriages beaten and old

I hesitatingly hand in my ticket

And up on board I go

Surely there must be some mistake

This train is a wreck

I did not work for years

To ride in something like that!

But then the train leaves the station

And where others turn right it goes left

Out of the concealing mists

That leave so many bereft

It leaves it all behind

And ahead I see fields of gold

Oh. Now I understand

That’s where I’m meant to go

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

A Life Lived

A Life Lived

By May Kwek

Eat and drink for tomorrow we die

So the old saying goes

But how can food and drink ever satisfy

The constantly yearning soul?

With its yearning for the beyond

And dreams of the blue sky

Of the stars and all its wonders

Where dear wishes could fly

With its hopes for tomorrow

And its fears for today

With its constant wish for a light

To show one the way

With its aching for a kind word

And hearts which understand

With its inexplicable desire

To reach out and lend a hand

For all these a soul yearns

In words felt but unspoken

But if one could simply reach out

And to the heart’s beat listen

They’ll know food and drink won’t satisfy

For a soul needs so much more

And to give it all up for brief pleasure

Is to die before death falls

So yes tomorrow we die

But let us at least have this

A life not shrouded in mindless pleasure

But a life lived!

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

Mars

Mars

By May Kwek

Lightning strikes, the wind blows

The leaves on high are laid down low

And in the gap of sky amongst the stars

There shines alone, the planet Mars

Silent it watches the battle below

A flash and with it, a million souls

Cries and shouts as the thunder roars

Agony, pain and so much more

The battle rages and men cry

Spirits wilt and spirits die

To overcome the need to flee

Seems beyond a soul like me

I look up, up to the sky!

To Mars shining aloof on high

And as I girdle myself to run and flee

I tell Mars sometimes it’s destiny

It remains silent, it won’t reply

Nor descend from the night sky

There’s no change in its red light

As it shines on the battle tonight

Yet as it gazes down on the field

I feel a spirit that will not yield

Always strong in the face of pain

Which falls only to stand again

Down it looks, down on me

And in its light there glows eternity

And a strength within I gain

To raise the sword once again

Mars! Mars! That unconquerable soul

Shining on high to those below

Unmoved by fears whatever the age

The shining hope of courage

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

The Mirror’s Smile

The Mirror’s Smile

By May Kwek

I met a mirror today

And it waved back at me

A smile graced its face

And I wondered how could it be?

So I asked it and it laughed

Before it sat me down

And asked me, really

What was the reason for my frown?

So I sighed and I answered

In a tale of my woes

Of a world dark and battered

Torturous to behold

Of clouds of grey

And stormy wintry nights

Of sadness and of pain

Of illness and of fright

I then looked at the mirror

And I did not expect to see

A smile still on its face

Was staring back at me

And then it looked to the sky

Where the warming sun shone

“Tomorrow” it whispered

“Will bring another dawn”

For it cared not for grey skies

And it could bear any pain

So long as tomorrow the sun rose

It would battle and stay sane

And so the mirror looked at me

Without a single trace of guile

Before it softly whispered to me

“Courage dear heart and smile”

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek

Dancing leaves

Dancing leaves

By May Kwek

The wind blew today

As I stood beneath the trees

And I saw a single leaf fall

To the whispering of the breeze

Small and light it was

Green without a care

It left the mother branch

And leapt into the air

The wind caught it as it flew

And danced in flight's ecstasy

Glimmering it shone in the shifting lights

Sparkling for all to see

The others must have seen it

For its joy was simple and plain

And they joined it in the air

Till leaves danced like rain

And so the wind blew today

As I stood between the trees

And the leaves heard its song

And leapt to its melody

Copyright © 2018 by May Kwek