What Is Green To You?

I've had just enough time to...   ponder green.

Taken from the top of a concrete silo in Cilegon, Indonesia of two shades of green.

The green of growth, vibrant

The green of decay, slimy

The green of spring, refreshing

The green around the gills, ailing

The green of apple, juicy

The green of jealousy, bitter

The green of nature, abundance

The green of inexperience, stumbling

The green of jade, virtuous

The green of money, corrupting

The green of balance, harmony

The green of light, go!

The green of love, Aphrodite

The green of bile, virulent

Apple, asparagus, chartreuse, fern

Forest, harlequin, honeydew and lime

Mantis, shamrock, olive, mint,
Pistachio, spring, teal and pine

The cloak Muhammad wore

The altar cloth of Catholics priests

The quetzal plumes on top Aztec chiefs

The beer drank on St. Patrick's Day

The singular colour of Libya’s flag

The virtue of China's jade

In the Rising Sun, eternal life is said to

Contain strings of green's thread

But,

What is green to you?

Planting Rice Is Never Fun.

I've had just enough time...   to see rice been planted.

Taken in a kampung in Cilegon, Java, Indonesia.

This field of ripening padi that I took in my visit to Cilegon in Jakarta is no more. It has been bulldozed over and converted to another factory. All in the name of progress.

It is easy for me to say this is bad. That the old way of Life should be preserved. But I know how difficult it is to walk in deep mud. And how back-breaking it is planting padi under the scorching tropical sun. And I remembered that nursery rhyme that I sang as a boy –

“Planting rice is never fun,

Bend from morn to set of sun.

Cannot stand and cannot sit,

Cannot rest a little bit.”

And I hesitated and reserved any hasty judgement. And I find the only thing I can condemn outright is – “poverty is bad”. Progress? It has two faces. But I sure miss the undulating field of ripening padi dancing to the wind.