The Grasshopper In My Room

I've had just enough time to...   encounter a grasshopper in my room

The grasshopper I encountered in the seventh floor of my hotel room in Kuching

I found a grasshopper

On the seventh floor of my hotel room

How did it get there? I do not know.

But it must have hopped there

All the way from where it came from

I said ‘hello’ but it hopped away

To a far corner of the room

I left to do what hotel occupants do

And when I returned, it was gone

I never saw it again but did I hear its song?

In the early morning

Before the breaking of the dawn

I was awaken by singing in my room

I don’t which is lonelier

The singing by my bed or

The early morning prayer

Enveloped by the yearning

And the longing

I fell into a strange dream

Of heaven and home…

Two days ago when I opened the door to my hotel room in Kuching, a tiny grasshopper sprang away from me. I followed it to the center of the room where it stopped and viewed me with cautious eyes as I snapped it. As I had to leave immediately, I left it undisturbed where it was. When I returned late that night, it was nowhere to be seen. The next morning when it was still dark, I was awaken by the shrill singing that after several moments of sleep deprived confusion, I concluded it must be from the grasshopper in my room though I am not sure what sound grasshopper make. At the same time, the early morning prayer from across the river wafted into my room. Surrounded by these two sounds, I fell asleep again to a strange dream…

Cactus Rain

I've had just enough time to...   bear the stings of the cactus rain

Cactus and Cactus Rain outside my office one sunny day

Yesterday when the sun was hot

Of a sudden, it rains like needles

Take cover!

It’s the cactus rain, falling down

Like needles from Heaven

Piercing the ants, stabbing slugs

Spearing the fish, drowning cats

What it cannot kill, it hurts

Oh, how it hurts – the cactus rain

I am a cactus,

I hate the cactus rain!

Even the cactus doesn't like the cactus rain

I love the rain, most of the time. I love gentle rain that lasted for hours, like a mist cover. I love cool rain after the heat that brings immediate relief. I love heavy rain that smear the land into indistinctive shapes. I love violent rain that shakes and makes the coconut palm dance like one in trance. I love the rains at night when they raise the frogs’ sound. I love the rain, most of the time. But sometimes, it rains on my parade. Sometimes, it adds insult to injury. Sometimes, it makes me miserable and wet. Sometimes, it hurts like the damn cactus rain.

Waiting For The Dragon Boat

I've has just enough time to...   not wait for the dragon boat

Still waiting for the dragon boat to come to shore in the Jade Emperor Temple, Surabaya, Indonesia

I waited

For the Dragon Boat to come

And take me away

But I waited too long

Under the motionless cloud

And faded rainbow

The Dragon Boat never come to my shore

For I had waited too long…

And I can do nothing now

But wait some more

For I had invested too much of my youth

For it not to come true…

So I must wait a little longer

And can do nothing but wait

For the Dragon boat

To come to my shore

I  wandered into this old Jade Emperor Chinese temple in my visit to the China town of Surabaya, Indonesia. In the upstairs balcony, I discovered an old faded but beautiful relief wall painting in cheerful blue. In it under was a vast sea and a dragon boat coming to shore under a rainbow, cloud and the palace of heaven. A man was sitting forlornly on a long wooden bench in front of the faded scene. I don’t know but to me it was a very poignant scene of time losing its purpose.

To take me to the Valley of Peach Blossom