The Old Man Looking for His Center

I've had just enough time...   to look for my center

I saw the old man walking unsteadily on edges...

The old man

Walked on edges

Struggling to maintain

A balance, not

Too much right or

Too much left

Might fall off

Into the abyss

He is trying to find his center.

I asked “Why?”

Almost causing his fall

He brushed me off

Walking unsteadily forth

Then stunned me

Left me pondering

What his voice carried

With his departure

“How can I find my center,

Walking on level ground?”

_______

What's Your Center?

A Child Is To Play

I've had just enough time to...   play

 

A child looking for play...

I remembered as a child

Searching for the meaning of Life

Then went outside to play

When the head gets too heavy

Leaving the thinking

For another day

I was always confident

There is time to be wise

But the play is not going to wait

To start another day

Now only I realized

How wise I was as a child

So I am putting down my books

To go out and play…

while grown-up prays...

I saw this small boy in his bicycle outside the same temple in Surabaya. He was just looking for someone to play with. I contrasted him with the old man I saw sitting forlornly in the balcony upstairs and feel kind of sad. I identified more with this boy and think back to my youth and is envious of him. In the end, I turned out alright but due to poverty and due to the well-meaning but misplaced worries of adults, I lost a large part of my irreplaceable childhood which is why a part of me will never grow up but I’m blessed for that. Life works in mysterious ways.

the Gods stays...

away from the affairs of man...

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

A Child Becomes A Man

I've had just enough time to...   see a child becomes a man

Taken at a temple in the Durbar Square in Bhaktapur, Nepal...

Yesterday a child starts a fire

The smoke rises

An old man puts it out

The master said –

Neither be too happy nor too sad

Don’t be so attached

For change is the season

Not the reason

A child becomes a man

...where I saw an old man who was once a child

Nothing is permanent. Everything changes. Whether it starts and ends and begins again, man’s life is a straight line from birth to death, a constant change – with an end? But what makes a child a man, the wrinkles on his skin, the years of his life or the wisdom he gained? If he is wise, he is a man. If he is not, he is still a man. What then must he seek in the midst of these relentless changes? How does he find his balance? Where does he seek his centre in the turmoil of his joy and sorrow? I saw the old man who was once a child. I saw the child who will be an old man. I see myself in all of them.

What The Old Man Said to The God of Prosperity.

I've had just enough time...   to say no to the God of Prosperity

Taken from the hotel lobby of Jesselton Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The God of Prosperity approached the old man with the slumped shoulder walking in the street. “Pray to me and I will bestow you riches untold!”

The old man lifted his weary head and looked at the God of Prosperity. A hint of a smile curled up his lips, looked to the ground again and continued on his way.

The God of Prosperity let him walked pass and waited, confident he will turn back for who can refuse free gold. But when it appeared that the old man’s intention is only to continue on his way; the God of Prosperity ran after him; his oversized stomach bouncing up and down as he caught up. How undignified for a God to be running after a man, he thought angrily. Through panted breath, he exclaimed “Are you short of hearing? I offered you Gold! Real gold for free!”

The old man replied patiently, “Leo Tolstoy said - Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.”

The old man continued, “I say - Gold, like Truth, cannot be obtained if you do not dig deep enough. Real gold cannot be recognized by its glitters for eyes are easily seduced. And once you are, you will sell your soul. I will tell Mr. Tolstoy one has to wash away the glitters too.” With that he gave another smile and a respectful bow and shuffled on his way.

The God of Prosperity was dumb struck. He recovered enough to ask “Have we met before?”

The old man replied without turning, “Yes, you were the one who sold me the false gold.”

Here Comes The "Kok Kok" Candy Man!

I've had just enough time to...   taste the Kok Kok Candy Man's sweet again.

Taken in Jonker Street in Malacca, Malaysia.

We heard him before we saw him. “Kok Kok! Kok Kok!” We rushed out of the house to the back lane to greet the arrival of the Candy Man.

Riding somewhat unsteadily in his old bicycle, the old man weaved his way to where his young customers were eagerly waiting. He usually arrived in late afternoon but the days when he arrived did not fit any regular pattern. Maybe it was because in those days, only the children of the rich has pocket money and if he came around too regularly, there will not be enough paying customers. He needed to space out his visits for them to save enough dimes to pay for his sweet.

When he got off his bicycle and parked it, the cover of a large round aluminium tray secured at the back was lifted displaying a single large piece of candy filling almost the whole tray except for those edges that had been chipped away. With two pieces of metal, he will strike the one shaped like a wedge with the other that looked like a hammer producing sharp metallic sound “kok kok! Kok kok!” Even those of us who could not afford to buy will crowd round him to watch. Sometimes, one of our richer friends may give us a small piece and make our day. But more often, we were taunted and had to swallow our saliva instead.

The candy man disappeared from the scene as the country modernised. We thought him extinct for a long while. But there is a revival of interests in traditional snacks and we found him again after all these years. And every time I hear that “kok kok” sound, it reminded me of my youth in a bitter sweet way.

The Old Man of the Mountain.

I've had just enough time to...   speak to the Old Man of the Mountain.

Taken in Gunung Lang, Ipoh.

The Old Man

by Robert F Doane
Published 1939 at 13 years of age
Campton New Hampshire 
On the crest of a mighty mountain
Looking over the lake below,
A face with a human expression
Watches many a century go.

It was made from a mountain of granite
With the skill of a sculptor's hand,
And guards the green valley below it
As time passes over the land.

At dusk when the birds cease their carols
And the wind murmurs through the trees,
There's a sense of sadness about you,
As you stand in the evening breeze.

You feel that a great respect's due him -
So mighty beneath the blue sky,
There are few who have not been inspired
By that face as they've passed it by.

And to me, as to Daniel Webster,
The thought comes now and again
That in the great State of New Hampshire
The Master of Sculptors makes men.

_______

Do not grieve that the Old Man of New Hampshire is no more,

He just left the granite shoulder of Profile Mountain,

To rest on the limestone shoulder of Gunung Lang.

(The Old man of New Hamsphire fell on May 2003, I found my Old man of Gunung Lang in Sept 2011)

Riding The Stone Tortoise.

I've had just enough time...   to see an old man riding a stone tortoise.

An instant shot made inside the Shaolin Temple, China.

It doesn't matter how many years,

Riding a stone tortoise will not get you there.