Long Battle

This love, Beloved,
A battle to win the heart
Zooming in and out—

How distant are we? Never away, just the lines and dots that project substantial distance. Once perspective is well understood, near far is never an issue as all are cluster of objects in the same dimension.

Yet how well is perspective projection can be accepted by this foolish brain?

Not easy to do it well. It is to play the focal length. It is a long battle to win the heart; is it my heart? Or your heart? Or both? It depends on what the computation is based. Can only wish it is based on mathematics that contains literature for accuracy without beauty kills hope. And living without hope is walking zombie.

💝

red torii: balance that stands out, mercury painted to battle the climates, poetic geometry

Daydreams of A Lover

You
Have got everything:
A sweetest smile,
A cheery hello,
A loving look,
A warm hug,
A good kiss
All in loving care.

Yet in all daydreams of closeness and connection….

I wish to give
You a warm kiss,
Yet impossible
As
You are too high
Up the sky;

I hope to give
You a pretty daffodil
Yet unlikely
As
You are too disguised
Behind the curtain;

I want to spread for
You a good breakfast
Yet too early
As
You wake up too late
In another day;

I want to paint
You a red torii
Yet too trivial
As
You know torii much
Better than me;

I am writing
You secret love poems
Yet in vain
As
You don’t even care
They exist.

Beloved,
Breath is with what I count life.
Breath is in what I save love.
Breath is on what I paint faith.
A warm kiss,
A pretty daffodil,
A good breakfast,
A red torii,
And secret love poems
Have livened this breathing
Although
You have got
A sweetest smile,
A cheery hello,
A loving look,
A warm hug,
A good kiss
All in loving care.

Beloved,
I only wish
You behind the curtain
See me breathing
For and with
You.

This long weekend of Eid Al-Adha is turning to brighter space with slow breathing, daydreaming and chili party.

Happy Eid Al-Adha, family and friends. Hope we are blessed with closeness and connection with the Source of Love.

Alhamdulillah 💝

RC Gorman’s – what an inspirational picture for chili lovers 😁

One by One

Wishing, Beloved,
Upon a star where dreams sit
Waiting to be picked
One by one to the bucket
Before the steps reach the home—

Many dreams look so much near. Places to go on earth displayed in Pinterest lengthen the list and be a good escape for mind every weekend before dosing off. Can only wish that the lengthened list lengthens the life, pushing the EOL later and later— 🤗

Some dreams can’t even be described…. You are as near as far away…. 🙃

Happy weekend. Oops long weekend.

next year, next year…. please 🥰 want to stand under those trees and greet the women who carry loads on their heads! beautiful! 💝

Sketches

Sketches, Beloved
Turning imagination
To the sensible
That won’t last longer than life;
Let go from the very start—

Sometimes I asked myself “what will happen to all these sketches when I die?” 🫥 Not easy to answer until I realised what I have done to most of my mistakes: let go.

🤡

orchid – in progress; let go from the very start

Beads of Pray

Counting beads of pray,
An echoed name flows away
Through silence of heart.

Have you ever prayed so silently? No one can hear. Only beads of pray click. A remembrance of love that is unseen. Beyond the ocean and beyond existence—

Literature is a limited tool to disclose ideas and emotions; not accurate enough to shoot one heart. Math is sharp to operate a complex equation; not sweet enough though to state naked truth.

With what then should I count this reality between two lovers? Beauty or precision?

Only beads of pray is whispered silently. Who knows the river will sail this soft voice along its flow introducing it to the estuary that escorts it to the ocean where winds push the current following the North Star to meet with you.

Salaam.

Sincerely,

from a tiny heart wrapped in a peaceful morning

Bright Red

Scarlet, Beloved,
Traveling in a canal
Brings blossom to life.

Flamboyan tree is magnificently stunning, all part of it— trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, scarlet flowers and seed pods, no exception.

Seeing pictures of flamboyan trees with blossoming scarlet flowers feels like my blood gets healthier and flows more smoothly. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that I’m being healthy now and seeing the pictures. So, it is the blood not the scarlet flowers causing me feel alive! ☺️

Alhamdulillah. Monday is well done. A satisfying healthy day!

Note: Blood colour isn’t always bright red. It won’t be blue though.

Salaam.

(from Pinterest)

Flowers Bouquet

Bouquet, Beloved,
A bunch of symbols arranged
Through fragrance and hues.

Amaryllis: strength and determination

Daffodil: honesty, truth and forgiveness

Eucalyptus: division of the underworld, earth and heaven (Aboriginal wisdom); inner and outer strength, leadership

Gladiolus: faithfulness and integrity

Lily of the valley: sincerity and joy

Sunflower: loyalty and unconditional love

Tendril: growth, softness, flexibility (Javanese wisdom)

Flowers Bouquet in water colour; 60%, waiting for the liquid frisket to block some colours before completion

Mother of Pearl

Deep dive, Beloved,
To where soft bodies guard light
Wisdom of the dark

Nowhere is better than within, where price tag is no longer a concern, where silence and acceptance is currency, where no one looks evil or harmless, where only gratitude and peace reside, where no colour distracts, where pain and joy are blended to ecstatic reality….

….where I finally get sleepy 😁

Salaam.

the no-longer-cost-fortune-yet-still-cost-a-wisdom gemstone called pearl is produced through 100’s of layers of mineral secreted by mollusk to cover around irritants that enter its shells – if a soft body of mollusk can do it, how can’t we human beings?

Reading

Reading, Beloved
Deciphering messages
Sent by soul that shines—

Sending my warm regards to all readers in the world. Hope we’re all blessed with wisdom and fun from reading and what is read.

Salaam…. 🙏🏼

‘ve always wanted to read this book but never happens; maybe my 5 people are not those in his book 😎 skipped (maybe forever)
this writer has fascinated me with his crazy ideas about children’s life; wish I could write that way 😍 paid!
sorry, Keanu; many not even in my kindness list 😘 you’re not my guide, just a man that has charmed me with your kindness & bearded face 😂 finished reading in the bookstore

Kinokuniya SG – calm Saturday afternoon after Japanese class with Honda Sensei

Good Time

How much time
Is good to meet
Old friends?
Neither hours
Nor minutes;
A bowl of dessert
Is good enough
To throw jokes,
To exchange laughter,
Before the next page
After PTO.

see you next time! those who didn’t clean the bowls paid! 😁

Hanoi – Jun. 30, 2022/22:50

Morning

Morning is breathing
With sun light from the window
And red carnation.

There is always good thing to associate to morning….

…. if we accept it.

💝

said “good morning, good morning” to this good morning this good morning
always red carnation in this hotel room

Blessings

Blessings, Beloved,
Smiles counted as a welcome
Paid with a thank you.

I’ve always loved South East Asia countries; its friendliness, warmth and good food is beyond compare. Tonight was a nice local experiences with a colleague at Hanoi night for cha ca la vang, desserts on the road and egg coffee in Cafe Dinh. Most importantly on motor bike!

🏍

cha ca la vang – gone in 15 minutes! 🥰
couldn’t finish it
👍🏽
egg coffee – umm… creamy, soft and sweet
there is always cuteness making big smile
Mr Dinh
thought I could do it myself; yes, but not in Hanoi 😂 then I just let my colleague take me around 👏🏼

Got lost

Got lost, Beloved,
Standing in a night-market
Seeing all the cheers—

—-

found this this morning in Changi Airport.
I know enough ☺️ thank you! 😘
how strong is my root?
but not in front of those labelling themselves with high price – too high, this life is too humble to bathe in pride
and don’t talk about love with those misunderstanding it, they will judge you the way they think what love is
nice for weekend
you can treat life as you wish; just know life will return the same, only multiplied
couldn’t stop laughing and agreeing
getting lost with and in a book is like getting lost in a good place

My Notes

I see
You
In the clarity of evening lake.

I hear
You
Through the whispering midnight wind.

I touch
You
In the warm water I splash at the dawn.

I taste
You
In the green tea I sip in the morning bright.

I smell
You
In the best lunch of the day.

I feel
You
In this throbbing heart in the sweet twilight.

To
You
Across the ocean:
Your
Name is so real,
Why not
Your
Presence?

Doraemon, lend me your Dokodemo Door to lock my unpleasant attitudes forever – don’t let hatred ignite hatred in me ☺️

Life Oh Life!

Blessed life, Beloved,
Chains of weeks with good content
Closed with happy ends—

Weekend!

Again?

I’ve been curious how many weekends I’ve lived.

Way more than 2000!

Are there more good weekends than not so good ones? After some contemplation the answer is yes! There have been way more good weekends in my life! Thanks to laughter and clumsiness naturally blessed to me.

Hope to live thousands of more healthy weeks and commit to spend them gloriously!

If not given that long? Still enjoy! Or if given too short, negotiate! Don’t disappoint this human being, God. 😶

Rock this weekend!!!

weekend, let’s joke around!!!
Nasi Padang for weekend! 🤤

Love Is

Love is
Unseen rope
Invisibly tying
Sparkling souls.

Love is
Interconnected network
Constantly connecting
All computers.

Love is
Moving air
Secretly exchanged
Through breathing.

Love is
An attached context
Building meaning
In a statement.

Love is
A medium
Conveying messages
To a ready recipient.

And what is not
Is not.

Years of experience has brought me to an understanding that subtle sensitivity is one of the keys to understanding, genuineness, boundary and security.

Welcome to genuine hearts. Good bye to tricky engagements.

Today I’m in love again with those around me who never give up on my clumsiness and insensitivity and with myself who becomes more patient and acceptant.

Salaam. 💝

“3 sisters with love in heart” in progress – thanks for being older than me, you both are beautifully blessed ♥️♥️♥️

Anthurium

Story, Beloved 
Told through colours, dots and lines
About nature love.

So much miss “playgrounds” where plants are greeting freely with their stories and advices. Hallo Jogja and Bali, wait for me. 🍀

anthurium (kuping gajah), grown freely in our childhood house yards and will decorate my humble home, how are you?

Gemstones

Gemstones, Beloved,
Beautiful, shiny, precious—
Mind! You’re still a stone.

When you integrate, you at the same time disintegrate. Imagine what happens before a gemstone sits on a ring: a tumble stone, cut, polished, separated from dirt and rock. Often time most part of the tumble is “wasted” for the sake of presenting a small carat of a bright semi precious or precious stone!

What gemstone are you? You might be a diamond in progress. Don’t tell, let the true eyes see the true you. Sheer beauty! Don’t take so long except you are willing to be a hidden treasure of the universe. Whatever your choice is – be true to yourself.

I want to be a diamond but I am not and so I will never be.

I am though grateful to have been created a less pricy one – it is precious to be given time to be what I am. Not more, not less, just right. I know and I accept it. 💝

Thank you, Beloved.

sapphire 💝
agate ❣️
labradorite 🦋
un-polished ruby 💕

Which One?

Which one, Beloved?
To love? To be loved? Any—
As long as it’s true.

There are times when you have no choice but giving or taking; no reciprocity whatsoever. And that is when you think it is not fair although that is not necessary to think of anything as long as it is true.

When it is time to give, just give like when you enjoy good unhealthy food. When it is time to take, just take like when you enjoy the healthful bland food. Easy but I have found it challenging in some way. I want balanced give and take, good and healthful.

Life is bitterly fair. To enjoy it, be true. Be true to yourself, my dear.

💝

all is healthful until….
you are given this loud, greasy, high carbo, full of pleasure magical crackers! 💝 🎉

Fine Lines

Fine lines, Beloved,
Show how much and deep her love is
To life and its vibes.

I am seriously getting and looking older. It doesn’t matter. I love being me changing physically and growing mentally. 💝

black and white photo apps has made my fine lines disappear from the tips of the eyes 😝 no wonder my nieces love to manipulate their photo with some apps

Coffee

Coffee, Beloved,
Brings back the fragrance of breeze
From the green high land.

—-

I drink coffee but am not a big fan of it. Fragrance of raw coffee beans, coffee cherries, coffee leaves, coffee flowers, coffee trees are much more lovable to these nostrils. Last 2019 visit to my uncle and aunt’s home in Menoreh Hill has always been a fresh fragrant memory; it is because the coffee fragrance would welcome us in the morning when wind blowing down the hill through the window sills.

Along the path up the hill going to our grandparents’ graveyards these hands would playfully pull some coffee leaves or coffee cherries, squeeze them and breathe the aroma in. My cousins and nieces would do the same. We would throw them to the dogs jumping around as playful as the owners.

Miss that green high land, where my ancestors started their humble legends—

Wind, fly me. 🛫

Salaam.

coffee shrubs decorate back yard of many houses in the hill; that fragrance is the witness of how the people love the land 💝
another fragrance loved – pepper
wait!
hey! get up, let’s run!

Whistling Winter

Winter, Beloved,
As white as wishes whistling
Through poems and prayers.

Damascus steel cuts silk. Drips of water punch the rocks. Wind caresses the sands. Breeze sways the twigs and ushers the leaves to land on the ground. Snowflake falls one by one wrapping the ground to doze off. With eloquent silence they make things happen.

How can I say about language ….except that it is as subtly powerful as nature, or even much more with its ability to transform or transmigrate whatever is in the hands, head and heart—

Whistle to me, Winter. These ears are frozen and distant but this soul is as warm and fragrant as jasmine tea.

Monday, thank you for being nice to me. Tuesday, I know you are too. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, be, too.

Salaam.

if only I learnt this language much earlier, I would have sung this song decently 😍

Singapore – Jun. 13, 2022 / 11:02pm

Marriage

Married, Beloved,
To your shadow that follows
Wherever I go.

Divorced, Beloved,
From your doubt that hunts and haunts
Wherever I hide.

—-

One very long chat decorated a night. A childhood friend did sharing about what she had experienced when we were away for about 10 years, busy with our own life. This is her promise to tell the full story after giving hints and looking puzzled when meeting me.

She married thrice. First husband died of illness. Second abused and cheated her and so they divorced. Third one, this one has brought a lot of stories and enlightenment.

How she finally decided the third after the traumatic second has strengthened about my own lesson in life – acceptance. How she lets a seemingly perfect person be with her imperfect figure does add amazement about one of my loyalist. How she ignores words and stares from people disapproving her behaviours has told me she is still girl going foraging in the wild with me in our lively early age.

She hit me with some bitter comments about my complicated points. She ridiculed me for being so guarding and distant from risking broken heart to happen. She also highlighted how her love transforms to friendship that I would have not believed can happen to her – she is not a “friendship-friendly” type of person, she is a snapping turtle 😑

There are things she has regretted about all 3 decisions but the regret has brought her to a final realisation that her life has shaped her into a composed, mature woman strong yet flexible enough to be beautifully bent by the hardship of life. The pain pays off, she said. What a beautiful creature my dear friend is! 😘😘😘

This weekend has given me another package of lessons from our childhood. A blast from the past!

Weekend is still long. I’d better have more fun!

May all beings be happy! 🙏🏼

the commitment on paper needs realisation in 3 dimension reality with soul and trust – red torii in progress

Orchids

Orchids’s peekaboo!
They breathe, we breathe the same air.
They bloom. We do, too.
They show colours. We do, too.
Theirs are bright. Would ours be, too?
blooming again 😍
mini Dendrobium
no ID Dendrobium

Good Day, Again

Good start, Beloved,
Morning with a good picture
Of love on a plate—

—-

Let’s start Saturday with good intension, to experience the day with no pretension.

Weekend is always good with books, brushes and kitchen. Hey, don’t forget the umbrella!

☔️

love yourself with a plate of healthful food
fly, fly, fly! weekend is the sky!

Cut This?

Cut this, he said.
Nope! These fruits don’t need slicing,
Not for fine dining.

—-

I miss places where eating fruit is the combination of hard work and excitement. At very young age, some rascal friends and I would just pluck some fruits from the trees —our parents called it stealing and lectured us for weeks, we called it adventure— then eat them just like that. We even peeled sugarcane with our teeth like powerful fighters. 😎

I’m blessed to experience that prime time. Trust me it sounds rather uncivilised but that’s what has made my generation more humane than my niece and nephew’s generation that has to use knife to enjoy the helpless berries. 😀

Happy weekend!

🥳

hi, chef. most of those fruits won’t need knife to eat. give them to me and I’ll finish them in no time with no tool 😎

Sunset

Sunset, Beloved,
Serene pretty end of day
To be in your lap—

—-

I’ve limited contact with human beings for the past 2 years either due to the blessed pandemic or my own will. It feels good to seclude myself: doing what’s sweet and enriching, talking only to those encouraging and infusing positive vibes, working with all heart and soul.

Only calls from colleagues and family are those I’ve picked. Very very limited number of friends have been the preferred channels. The rest is next layers, not priority.

Only 6 people have been my favourite for the past one year — they are the easiest to laugh things with; at the same time the most serious to discuss crazy things with. We can talk about how stupid we are especially when in love 🤮 up to how we are afraid of dying ugly and in debt 😑

My mom and 2 older friends are kind of those I would respectfully listen with a twist – hey sometimes my ears are itchy too… My youngest brother and 2 same age friends are whom I impatiently argue with and patiently listen to each other. They are the definition of best friends of mine.

Thanks for becoming my sunrise, sunstroke and sunset. Beautiful friendship is about acceptance and trust! 💝

Alfatihah for you all my best people

sunset is beautiful reminding me of those sweet sour best friends 🥳

Humane

Human, Beloved,
Bruised and scarred, laughter and cry.
Perfect? Humane not—

Nowhere to run from mistakes and errors. The best way is forgiving the self for making (too many) repeated irresponsible decisions and moving right on. Don’t add too many fatal moves; this life has its right to be happy, too.

Nowhere. It is just here and now. Tomorrow might be an elegy.

💝

this guy is a human being. there’s another one I adore even more than this guy simply because he is a human being – salaam

Tonight Is A Good Night

Good night, Beloved,
They slow down even the trains.
But times, it moves right.

—-

One friend said “Some people show their sweet side when they need me, I just knew they laughed at me behind my back and said how stupid I’ve been for (she mentioned one big social contribution she made). Do you think I should stop being kind to people?”

Another friend said “No. why stop? There is karma so you’d better do good deed. Your good actions will be repaid with good reactions. Believe it.” This one is also very kind.

Another one said “This life doesn’t owe you anything. So how much ever you spend, it will not be paid back. You will not be repaid 10 points just because you donate 1 point. Look! How much have you lost, just like that? No one gives you 10 times the amount, right? What karma? Whose karma? You’d better do what’s the best for your benefits and without harming others.” She is the most critical.

The other friend said “it should be balanced. You do good things and don’t forget doing bad things.” 🤔 Gosh she is always the most confusing.

I said “I’m hungry. Let’s go dinner. Our brain needs to slow down.” Those three stopped arguing.

Night is always good for a chat with some friends whose heads contain different things whose heart is of one intension — to respect friendship.

Salaam. ♥️

two trains to/from opposite directions of the same line, Red Line

Dandelion

Achene’s a message
Sent to wish more joy and bliss.
Sad no more, dear earth.

Each day new day. It is equivalent with Javanese wisdom “mati sajroning urip” which literally means “dead within life”. It is a very deep wisdom teaching Javanese human beings to let the old self to transform to the new one. It is simply acknowledging that some problems are let go and self is moving on with better understanding about what life is truly is.

If life challenge is considered a seed, it will free the human being, fly away to fall on Mother Earth’s lap somewhere and be part of green woven blanket beautifying and cooling.

Life is just like that.

Salaam.

dandelion (Randa Tapak in Javanese)