AN OLD LOVER’S APOLOGY

I’d have given myself to thee
If I had had myself to give;
But I found you before I found me
When still I had very  little to give.

Forget that shell you once loved,
Whose rumbling of emptiness inside
Was all you heard from your beloved,
Killing your feelings as surely as cyanide,
While you so longed only for intimacy –
A hug, a kiss and a three-worded whisper.

Folly, like love, on its victims has no mercy
And the end often is this here type of whimper;
After a man, aged and wiser, recalls his past,
Realizing he might’ve done better at every turn
Is left wondering why time must go so fast,
That no man can go back, correct, then return.

Do believe I meant to give myself to thee
Only to learn I had not myself to give
‘cos I found you before I found me;
Now for the pains I caused, pray do forgive.

CREED OF A MAN

A man is his body, soul and mind
To these three forever be kind
For they are the pillars of life
Made stronger and firmer by strife.

A man becomes by overcoming;
Imitate the determined human being,
Him, neither wounds nor disease can kill
Nor failure quash his indomitable will.

So never fear to join the fray
Or face the peril on your way
Nor to fight the battles you must
Even if you’ve always lost in the past.

Just ignore the world’s confusing din
Go ahead and do it, and do to win,
But if you don’t, then learn something;
And always have fun in everything.

DO DREAMS COME TRUE?

Do dreams actually come true
When the sea rises in high tide
Ending the seamen’s ado
To sail upon waters far and wide?

When men dream of such things,
What wind lifts their eager wings?

Do dreams actually come true
After winds, steady and strong,
Work with a sea vessel’s crew,
To take sailors where they long?

When thus favoured by chance,
Is arrival verily a victory dance?

Do dreams actually come true
At the journey’s timely ending
if life remain and scars be few,
and no vestige of action pending?

Is it when thus left with no more to do
that men count their dreams came true?

Do dreams actually come true
So men can enjoy sunsets in peace
Knowing they were useful here too
And can withstand death’s cold kiss?

When a man learns the secrets of death
Won’t he more easily give up his breath?

Dreams may actually come true
If men knew what dreams to dream
by looking keenly to that innate clue –
passions – stifled to a silent scream.

The best dream is a man’s raison d’etre,
Not to achieve, but daily make him better.

Dreams have been proven to come true
By men who smiled at their lives’ ends
Glad to peep past death, and start life anew,
Because a fully lived life needs no amends.

That’s all death demands – that we live fully –
So when he takes life, he can leave us glory.

AN ODE TO OLD TIMES

The tears we shed
as away we sped
from bone deep poverty

the numerous volumes we read
as our eyes drooped
from tenacious exertion

the pains we bore
as in encyclopaedias we’d pore
soaking up in knowledge

the self inflicted torment
upon a hurting heart
not to forget the poverty

the sleepless nights spent
upon a book, the hours went
and exams drew nearer

the sorrows we suffered
as comrades were stoppered
back to their paupery
by the examinations

and the dreams we had
of riches already acquired
only to wake up
in the same miserable state

FIND YOURSELF FIRST

Should our paths cross
While you are searching for yourself
Do not stop to talk to me
Think not of camping by me.
I may feel like home
You may love me so dearly
Parting may hurt you
But not finding yourself
Will slowly kill you
Eating away on your soul
And you’ll die all hollow.

Should our paths cross
Before you’ve found purpose
Do not listen to me
When I ask you to stay
Nor if promising love and joy
I should beg to go with you.
Run in the dark of night
And never look back.

AN ODE TO A FRIEND

I thought I had seen it all
The sneaky ways death creeps on us
In the sudden unexpected demise
Of a loved one, fellow human being.
I thought I was ready for anything.
After all, haven’t I seen the young die,
the old and the healthy just like the ailing?
I though that making a pact with death
To let it take whatever it please,
To submit to the majesty of its will,
Would help reduce the shock and pain
Of losing ones dear to me
Apparently I was deluded –
Mourning tears all sting the same,
whether death was sudden or expected.
Again the callous visitor came calling
Brought me nothing but took another
Of those I thought I can’t live without.
 
RIP Victor B. The lessons you taught me were, and still are, invaluable.

WRONG PERSON, RIGHT REASONS

Sometimes we slide on bad luck
and fall in love with the wrong person.
This may seem like a tragedy,
but it really is not.
The wise understand that
hearts are made stronger
by being broken,
because we find our own strength
when we are weak,
and the limits of our perseverance
become clear when we’re hurting.
Heartaches are lessons
just like relationships
are experiences.
The lessons learnt
while with the wrong person
serve to make the relationship
with the right person better.

WHO, WHERE IS SHE?

I plead temporal insanity
An apt excuse for my vanity
I’m chasing after a mirage
Putrid sweat on my visage

Deep whence love prevail
I toil to settle a turmoil;
To calm a tempest in my soul.
I wish a break, a moment of peace
From restlessness: this imbalance

I ain’t a complete set
As I’m not whole in heart
Need a soul-mate to complement
My person to fulfill
Hence my purpose reveal

Amongst the zillion,
Maybe beyond Zion,
Awaits an angel, my own,
God-given,
To teach me happiness.
But whence, my lady,
Art thee now?

DYING: UPON THE WINGS OF FAITH

She might’ve wanted to stay with us more,
But the angels stood at heaven’s door,
And bid her come, come home to thy father;
Then her soul knew it was time to go thither.

So, trusting in what the good book saith,
She gave up her very last breath;
And flew away on the wings of her faith,
Across that dreadful chasm we call death.

And thus she went – home to the hands of the Lord,
Where the health and joys of believers are restored;
Went to that sweet, promised land whose hosts sing,
And make merry each moment, for time everlasting.

Now she smiles down on us from heaven above,
And watches as we say our sad, sorrowful goodbye,
And in our mourning she reads the depth of our love,
For she’s forever loved, even after we cry our eyes dry.

Repose en paxi Mom, tu es une lumiere dans nos vies.`

TU ES MON RAISON D’ETRE

Behold dear the world is behind,
Now the universe is me you and me.
Let me again do remind
What this love means to me:

If in the scenes that I’ll see
You happen be the centerpiece
They’ll be a breathtaking beauty

If in the sounds that I’ll hear
I’ll hear you do me endear
It shall be music to my soul

If the breath I inhale
Has your scent full
Then no perfume be needed

When my body is in agony
Your caress will suffice
Help tolerate any pain

If the meals I’ll eat
Have your lips for dessert
They shall be the best

To me you are mnemonic
Happy moments to remind.
For when was I ever glad
Than when with you,
Mon raison d’etre?