Author: rike jokanan

Me, now here

Beautifully, Humbly

Learning, love, Poetic
The tree sows thousands of seeds
That fly to all directions
And never return
Until the wind stands up
And calls.
Which seeds come back?
Any
That hear a mother
Beautifully sings with love
Humbly whispers with peace
About home
Full of
Love.

——

this is how much beautifully humble my mother is — with that she has been highly respected by those surrounding her; I won’t be as respected as she is yet I want to at least preserve some part of her humbleness 💚

Carrickfergus (song)

Learning
I wish I was in carrickfergus
Where the castle looks out to sea.
I would swim over the deepest ocean
For my love to be with me.
But the sea is wide
And I can not swim over
Nor have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatman,
To ferry me over, my love and I.

(part of the lyrics)

——

Carrickfergus is a song that has charmed me with just some words in it and the flow of its music. Some words sound very old yet familiar to me, waking up something ancient in me that feels home.

Carrickfergus itself is a place in Ireland allegedly one of the oldest towns there. I’ve never wanted to visit the place although it is quite well known.

i have the cassette in which this song is in — yes, cassette that I bought back in 2002 😃

Happy Birthday, Ibu

Learning, love, Poetic
Everything is centred.
My mother.
Everything is meaningful.
My mother.
Everything is wisdom.
My mother.

——

she was meeting her doctor for medical review on her birthday today — she said her health and children are the best gift forever 💕

Ibu and me in Jabal Rahmah (Mount of Love), 2016 — wishing our love spread to everyone around us

a tumpeng by me for my mother, sent via WhatsApp 🙂

Soaked

Learning
Soak the self in love.
Treat the life with all blessings.
Every breath counts hope.

——

these ingredients will be soaked in water for two days before applied to hair after shampoo

this time: rice + ginger + rosemary + pomelo rind

Flipped

Learning, Poetic, This Person
I flipped this body down
To see the world upside down
My first effort brought frown
Still I decided to go on

I’m hanging my satchel
I’m hanging my pole
I’m taking all as it is
From behind the scroll

——

this is my favourite photo of mine although I don’t look good at all: I’m simply upside down with fun as how I see the world outside my work, trying to relax by seeing things from different perspectives and understanding others’ esp those disagreeing with me —

to me most of the time caption is more important than picture and I always like to tease my friends with my caption and some usually cannot stop commenting although irrelevantly 😀

Self Care

Learning, love, Poetic, This Person
There’s a seed
Called self
Needing love
And care
And consistency
To grow,
To glow,
To everlastingly flow.

——

started fermented rice water to treat my long hair — this one is black rice + rose tea + lime

shampoo bar and conditioner bar made of longsheng rice that is used by the Red Yao women for their beautiful long hair — after using these bought bars, I plan to make my own shampoo bar from Indonesia rice and conditioner liquid from boiled flaxseed water

💕

all in the name of self care because no one cares about myself but me

💚

Wandering Centre

Learning, Poetic
Even if
I love
You,
I won’t chase
You.

I am a tiny dust,
They are giant stars.
I realise at last,
Their silence gives me scars.

I am a wandering centre
That spins peacefully,
In solitude
Giving blessings
From a distance
Until someday
They can feel what I feel,
They can see what I see,
They can hear what I hear,
They can taste what I taste,
They can touch what I touch,
They not be what I not be.

——

still, centred yet wandering with the universe

False Alarm

Learning, Poetic
Evacuate. Now.
Hundreds of steps in the dim.
Sorry, false alarm.

——

this morning I felt kind of alarmed; nervous at the same time energised because of alarm going off early morning in the hotel — fire warden in action; run run run! lucky enough I stayed on 11th floor, not the highest! 👍🏽

with other guests who were (I guessed) sleepy and not ready to show themselves up to the world

no need to dress up! I just grabbed my MacBook, iPhone and my sling bag, left other stuff less important (although important) — oh my! predictably I saw many were wearing “whatsoever as long as wearing things” 😝 tired as well as entertained 😂

in the assembly point waiting, waiting and waiting — false alarm

the hotel rep said “We are terribly sorry. It is a false alarm and all guests would you please go back to your room? We will arrange a compensation for you all affected. We once again apologise to you for the inconvenience caused. Sorry, Ma’am. Sorry, Sir….”

a love letter I found arriving in the room this evening 🙏🏼

Relative Paradox Is Time

Learning
Time is
Paradoxical.
Luxury for those knowing how short it is,
Ordinary as everyone is given.

Time is 
Relative.
Those transacting in life say
Time is money.
Those knowing its sharpness say
Time is like sword.
Those valuing milestones say
Let’s race with time.
Those mismanaging things say
I have no time.
Those loving you say
I have all time.
Those knowing your struggle say
Please take your time.
Those having super speed say
Don’t waste your time.

How do you say about
Your time?
You decide.
One to remember
There is no referee in life
To whom you can shout
“Timeout!”

Time flows.
Time flies.
Time walks.
Time runs.
Time swims.
Time dives.
You may want to stop it,
Yes you can
Only if you stop everything
At the same time for
Every body
Everywhere.
Can you?

——-

time is short when you smile and forever when you pout

Useful link about Time

Luxury Boasted

Learning, Poetic
If there is luxury
I can always boast,
It is time
With which horizon broadens,
Spectrum of truth unrolls,
Insight sharpens,
Heart softens,
Wisdom drips, drops then flows;
Love goes on.

——

what time is it? wanna be back to London — when when…. 😊

Useful link for Greenwich

Luxury Redefined (haiku cluster)

Learning, Poetic
Luxury, my love
What makes one feel fortunate,
Feel responsible.

Luxury, my love
Not brand, not price tag. It’s mind
Bursting new spirits.

Luxury, my love
You can bluff but you can’t trade
With a true spirit.

Luxury, my love
What you’ve failed, what you’ve too learnt
About the deep wounds.

——

not the Aman Jiwo Hotel making it luxurious, it is Borobudur temple, Menoreh Hill and all the Javanese villages and tradition conserved as surrounding is the real luxury

Weathered

Learning, Poetic
This life’s well weathered
‘Tween hot and cold, calm and rushed.
There’s home to shelter.

——

Indonesia Mosque in Bangkok — joining a short prayer

i went to a mosque then to a small shrine today before flight — feeling the humbleness of human beings begging for help from the One indescribable unseen unexplainable, the hope tiptoeing behind fear, the weakness of human beings facing our own nature

these folded lotus flowers are floating to weather after their duty as envelopes with which prayers are sent up above through billowing smoke of incense

now i have to pack to fly back home soon to see my mother hospitalised — certain days are just under the weather

wishing all my silent chants can be medicine for the woman who loves me to the moon and back

see very soon, Ibu

may all beings be happy

💕

Reflection

Learning, love
Mirror,
Mirror
On the wall!
Show me clearly
Afterall
What’s been
Lingering
In this fall.

Whether massive darkness
Or just shadow
That crawls.

——

only selfie when feeling good and truly willing to see what’s reflected by the mirror

Sweetness

Learning
Sweetness of this life,
Interchangeable
Only with
The heart
That sings love songs.

——

pastry that charms sweetness sensor tonight mixed with friendship woke me up

“long time! we’ve been waiting with so much to share. you’ve won your battle. be happy.”

thank you, Bangkok! you should have told me earlier that what looks grand might be a shadow reflected by water in a pond with little light coming in

let’s sing love songs no matter what

Moon

Learning, Poetic
Thank you, mid autumn
For showing a firmer end
Of uncertain path
Having trapped the traveler
In a maze of blinking stars.

——

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

between chopsticks

on a spoon

in a cone

among stars

shadowed by birds

by the sea

over a castle

Note: pictures sent by a colleague

Once My Master Said

Learning

Once my master said
“Be kind,
Yet don’t let evil take the wheel.
You know where to go
And no one but you
Is to drive your fate.”

Once my master said
“Be generous,
Yet don’t get misled.
You know how to count
And no one but you
Is to solve the equation.”

Once my master said
“Be careful,
Yet don’t forget to have fun.
You know how to celebrate
And no one but you
Is to throw the party.”

Once my master said
Nothing.
It was time for me to go
To trace my own path
And no one but me
Is to walk the talk.

And here I am,
One heart,
One word,
One journey.

Just
One.

——

to me this is just one cup of tea, to the helper it is all her kindness, pride and maybe survival in one act — thank you, Ma’am for your sincere smile and the tea 💕 you are the master of service 🙏🏼 I bow to the divine in you 💕

Be Kind

Learning, Poetic
I am not  a fully kind human being
And that’s why I try my best to be kind to those around me
Everyday.

Be kind.
It is though a choice.
Being kind
By dealing with it with integrity
Or
By staying away.

Once staying away,
I stay away forever.
That’s my kind
Of respect
Especially to those
Personally,
Loudly or silently
Disrespecting me.

——

most of us don’t know each other but many of us decide to respect each other

many of us are reluctant to disclose most of our unhappiness and many of us decide to respect each other

Hair

Learning, Poetic
Crowning black gets grey,
Surfing through tunnels of time.
There is no U-turn.

——

long, black with some grey showing — excited to have this long hair to caress ♥️