Poem: Desert Flowers

Desert Flowers written by Vincent Teh

She's not as vulnerable

As you think

Because she's deceiving.

Don't be fooled by her glamour

Because of her pink

Embellished with her green.

She doesn't wither

As easily as you think

As she strives for surviving.

She doesn't need moisturiser

To keep her pink

As well as her green.

As long as the sun shines on her

Storms wouldn't make her blink

And she takes it on the chin.

I can still remember the three pots of pink desert flowers

Beneath a big old rose apple tree

In front of the old terrace house when I was wee.

Ithaka - A Poem about Life as a Journey

I came across this very poem in 2013 when I was at my 4th year of tertiary education. The poem was illustrated in a comic by Gavin Aung Than. I found this poem interesting because it depicted life as a journey. It gave me a lot of food for thought because my last year of university life was about to end and I had to seriously think and plan for my future. Back then, I was aimless...

Ithaka was written by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933) - a Greek poet of the 20th century. The poem was then translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. It was based on Homer's account of Odysseus's journey home in his poem - The Odyssey.

Life has always been bittersweet and that is the journey that everyone must go through. We learn and grow from the bitter moment; and we live and appreciate the sweet moment. Do not rush through the journey because life is not about the destination, but all about the journey - the experiences and memories that you have gained to make your life flourishing and fulfilling.

This poem gives us hope about life and it motivates us to move on even though life could be challenging sometimes. Hope you enjoy reading this poem like I do. 😉

Ithaka

by Constantine P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon   don't be afraid of them:

you'll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon   you won't encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenecian trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind   

as many perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you're destined for.

But don't hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you're old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you've gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Poem: Walking Along Johor-Singapore Causeway

Walking Along Johor-Singapore Causeway by Vincent Teh

The bus terminal is noisy,

A sea of people are queuing,

Waiting for buses impatiently.

The bus terminal is sweaty,

The buses are honking,

Emitting fumes and heat endlessly.

The queues are long and winding,

Till no end to be seen,

What a congested condition they are in.

The people are perspiring,

Being confined like canned sardine,

Not a snug condition they are in.

Darkness is engulfing the land,

But the queues do not move and

They seem to have no end.

Uncertain of when will the waiting end,

Many people decide not to wait and

Walk from the bus terminal to the other end.

The pedestrians start to flock to the causeway

With shining streetlights along the way 

On the Straits of Johor with sea breeze blowing.

Walking along the roadside of the causeway

Sweat is dripping as the pores fail to give way

Albeit the sea breeze is blowing.

I can imagine the hardship Malaysian workers bear

To get up early and travel across the congested causeway

To earn more money in Singapore every day.

I can imagine the sacrifice they must bear

To waste their time and travel across the congested causeway

To go back to Johor Bahru and have a rest every day.

Though I don't face it every day,

I can imagine how frustrated and weary they can be

Because of the crowded bus terminal.

The sea breeze is still blowing along the causeway,

I am now walking to the border of Singapore wearily

Because of the crowded bus terminal.

***

I was inspired to write this poem on a return trip from my hometown to Singapore after my short holiday when I was surprised to be caught in a congested bus terminal at Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex, Johor Bahru. I needed to take a bus to go to Woodlands Checkpoint, the border of Singapore. It was between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening then.

To travel between Johor Bahru and Singapore by road transport, such as bus and car, one of the ways is to travel across Johor-Singapore Causeway from CIQ to Woodlands Checkpoint.

However, based on the situation in the bus terminal, I might be taking forever to get on a bus, so I decided to walk across the causeway before I could wind down after an 8-hour journey.