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

Truth Like Fishes Are Elusive Little Creatures.

I've had just enough time...   to look for little fishes

Taken of the little fishes I found in a pool in Malacca by standing very still

The sharpest pain is to be misunderstood

The biggest sacrifice is to allow to be misunderstood

But only the misunderstood will understand this

It does not matter, does it?

Life is more about understanding and sacrifice

But the hurts persist

The hurts will subside over time

Like sediments in still water

But will never disappear

So don’t stir the water

Don’t muddy it

Fishes can only be seen in clear, still water

The elusive fishes are gone if you are not as still as the water

Go Faster at Red!

I've has just enough time to...   stop at red. 

Taken at the traffic light of a wet bird (or two?) on the way to work.

There comes a time we have to stop at red

But did we notice the change of light?

Do we accelerate at the danger sign

To salvage time for time wasted

For a little extra time we do not need

“Living Life in the fast lane

Involves breaking a few rules

They are small prices to pay

For the speed we need to make -

Through the landscape”

“What is the point of a journey

If not to a destination?

No time to smell the flowers

They are still there tomorrow -               

We have to get there today”

“Haven’t you heard time is money

It waits for no man

And once spent is gone forever

So what we need to do is faster -

Before time runs out”

 “So we will not stop at red 1”

So says the speed devil

Just before

A red light too many!

_______

At a red light in the sunshine

On a Sunday

Nothin' to say

Don't even try

Some are comin' home

Some are leavin' town

While my world's crashin' down

On a Sunday

In the sunshine

At a red light

David Nail – “Red Light”

Saving The Rain Trees of Taiping

I've had just enough time to...   see the rain trees saved

Taken of the Taiping Lake Garden, the most beautiful park in Malaysia

The rain trees lined the serene shore

Dipping its branches into the forbidden lake

Rippling the surface stirred by wayward winds

Sending a gentle cascade of dropping leaves

On wet grasses and empty benches

Providing solace to aching hearts and aching feet

Slowing down time to a slow crawl

Witnessed by the distant hills and century trees

Through the veils of morning mists and driving rain

A scene that soothes the heart with a gift of memory

That may not last as long as the trees

Only just as long as we live…

And they want to set up kiosks in this sacred land

To sell snacks and souvenirs!

Ode to The Wedding Photographer

I've had enough time to...   shoot the wedding photographer

Shooting the wedding photographer in St. Thomas Cathedral in Kuching, Sarawak

The wedding photographer was all over the place

Searching every angle, squeezing tight space

The only one with sweat on his face

He shot, reviewed, reshoot one after another

But his expression always carries that same bother

Like that of a serial scowler

Maybe he feels something is eluding him

Which make him kind of grim

And the singing of hymn

Is only pushing him to the brim

Time is running out

For him to make a shot that makes him proud

And the bride shrieking out loud

So at the critical chapter

When the couple kneels before the altar

He kneels along after

And made that perfect shot together with a prayer

The Sorrow of the Lonely Urn.

I've had just enough time to...   appreciate Beauty while it last.

Taken in the Gunung Lang resort, Perak, Malaysia.

In the shadow,

The urn tells a timeless tale

In soft whispers.

To the attentive grass and

The slow climbing vines.

“Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty”

It sadly said,

“But Beauty fades and Life goes on”

"Nothing last forever,

The truth of beauty is -

When it exists."

_______

Ode on a Grecian Urn - John Keats

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness!

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time

            Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," – that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.