on this day

fairy tales have sad endings too.

photo by Nikita Tikhomirov at Unsplash


on this day


on this day
we would be drinking
of course
her cocktails
my cheap beer
maybe even pub crawl
throw some darts
bath in bright sexy neon
sing the birthday song again
and later
grab a burger
at MacDonald's
light our cigarettes
blowing smoke rings
into the frosty night
then to a 7-11
for more beer
my hands on her
slim waist
whispering into her ears
and she would giggle
her girlish giggle
the street lights
shine a little brighter
and we would wish
the night would not end.

but city tales
have a way
of turning nasty
and so
her birthdays ended
too soon.


undated probably early 2000's
revised 06/07/2021
***************

Rosemary at Poets & Storytellers United would like us to write about "darkness and light". Perhaps this piece can qualify?

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Versailles - DESTINY -THE LOVERS-

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

sorta like a rope

Ennui. Dead end. Nothing to look forward to...

photo by dsnake1



sorta like a rope


today the sun comes out
but it's not burning
you try to ignore the sun
and the clock alarm too

you see this dead bird
rotting by the wayside trees
one good life gone, once skies,
now a home for maggots & flies.

you sit at the coffee shop
trying to sip your tea
the other old guys there
are scratching on betting slips

who knows, who knows your life
might change the next day
people begging you for handouts
or you just tear that slip away

you see this old geezer
trying to feed a stray cat
but the stray claws him
maybe it remembers something

the dark roads intersect at night
street lights shine no brighter
than the stars in the sky
somewhere in the distance drones

a siren



15/03/2023
**********


"sorta like a rope looking for a tree to finish the job." - ZQ
The title comes from a comment from ZQ, one of the readers of this blog.

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Madonna - Frozen

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

ten years

"a mynah lands on the
aircon unit outside.
looks at me
perhaps to ride the rain
perhaps to see me weep."

- dsnake1, teddy bear

photo by Amy_Z at pixabay



ten years


ten years?
you left me
carrying the memories
not even a goodbye?
but such courage
kicked fear in the face.
once, just once
you cried
WHY ME?
the tears down your cheeks
big as pearls
such grace
the tears on your eyelashes
dew on a cold morning.

ten years already?
seems like not long ago
in that hospital room
holding hands
waiting for your chemo
but now i am touching
the marble slab
at your grave
tracing your name
no, smoothing what hair
that is left
as my tears now
big as pearls
such helplessness
as i once held
your frail hands.


written : 28/01/2004
revised : 28/01/2023
*****************

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Reina del Cid - Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

recipe for disaster, big city

Rosemary at Poets & Storytellers United would like us to write a recipe poem, last week. Yeah, a week late.

photo by darksouls1 at pixabay



recipe for disaster, big city


one very wrong turn
on one very wet night

one dark alley, dark and smelly
like overnight prawn paste

three big burly thugs shaking
one very frightened guy

oh poor you that bumped into the show
one hasty quiet retreat is

advised.



11/02/2023
**********


Inspired by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "Recipe For Happiness Khaborovsk Or Anyplace"

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Chaos at the Do Lung Bridge, Apocalypse Now

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

what are their names

We are drinking our beer and eating hotpot under the stars. The street looks vaguely familiar. We know we had never been here before. But we knew we had been there before.

photo by dimitrisvetsikas1969 at pixabay



what are their names


how many towns did we missed
some up in the hills?
What are their names?
these towns, these streets
that we passed through
like a whirlwind?
why do the children cheered
when our armored vehicles
stop at their shops?
because we pay in greenbacks
but the cities
the big ones
we know their names
because well,
R&R
and where we catch
our jetliners home

we don't care
how paddy grows,
this way
or that
why hogs roll in the mud
as we marched through
poor villages
rifles drawn
old grandmas look at us
with fire in their eyes
spooning plain porridge
into their mouths
home is a hut plastered
with red paper
with golden words asking
for blessings
and
everyone is glad
to be alive

I wondered how those kids
have grown
munching on giant fish balls
and wild boar meat.
how they will miss
our greenbacks

and I still do not know
some of their names.



02/06/2022
**********


We trace a line across the map and it leads us home...

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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

Happy New Year!

"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

- T.S. Eliot

pen and colour pencil drawing by dsnake1



Have a Blessed and Happy New Year!

haiga by dsnake1



fireworks -
a new year
inks its first page


31/12/2022
**********

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"Help me, Goddess, to be the always hopeful who has known countless failures..."

- dsnake1, prayer

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2022

and so the day is actually good

This was written for a poetry competition, about 'catharsis', or what makes you feel good. I thought this is not a poem to win a competition, and thus did not submit it.

photo by dsnake1



and so the day is actually good


I cannot escape the day's fatigue
nor the harsh words that were said.

So as I step out of the guarded compound
the night air kicks in like a sigh.

Spotlights bath the nearby church's steeple
guiding its poor children going home.

The street lights' poor reach
hides the waving weeds by my feet.

The legs heavy gait now jaunty
the vines grabbing them loosened their grip.

Now the welcome headlights of the bus
and a warm meal waiting at home, at last.



31/08/2019
**********


And so, this is probably my last post for the year, a little 'happy' poem. Happy Holidays to all my readers! 😃🎄⛄

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Lucie,Too - Lucky

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2022