Light upon Light

I've opened curtains,
Layers of curtains
Curtains of light;
Lifting layer by layer of the dark,
Distinguishing hues in stacked of spectrums
Then
Here
You are
Converting this believing
To this knowing.
It's been
Light upon light.

His light is like a niche in which there is a lamp, the lamp is in a crystal, the crystal is like a shining star, lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree, located neither to the east nor the west, whose oil would almost glow, even without being touched by fire. Light upon light!….

(The Light, 35)

Own n Owe


I don't own this body
I don't own this heart
I don't own this soul
I don't own this life

I owe
You.
Yet do
You know that
You owe me, too?
All these limited experiences that imprison
You belong to me.

All in all
I belong to
You.

some part of me is a monk, some part is a bitch and that fact makes me perfect of being a human

💕

(picture from Pinterest)

We Are The Champions (Queen)

There's a time, my dear
You cherish with sweet breathing.
Winning against self--

i used to be very harsh to myself until 2019 when two doctors made me realise that taking care of my body is as important as taking care of my spirit and mental

i started expressing myself more freely and genuinely, less drama, no excuse to stop me from being calm and confident, accepting me the way me is, unlearning old knowledge, learning new knowledge, opening my heart to all possible layers of truth and beauty

now i believe i am one of this world champions seeing how well i coped with my own self until i can feel so comfortable again back to my me

…. now i won’t let those playing around with me for their own fun in to my life as my life is not only a span of fun free time yet it is a span of fun dedicating time

thank you all for being you even with just a brief existence here now in this short journey

💕

I’m Loved

How do you feel loved?
Not so much effort,
It's just a smile,
Or a cuddle from a dog.

I'm loved,
I'm loved
Just because
Life loves,
Love lives
Here
Now.

before going back to Singapore, i visited my friend in Lod Tunduh – she has 2 dogs and both love me so much, wherever i sit, both will sneak around like this!

Pretty Beautiful

You're pretty beautiful
Filling me with so much love
Through eyes that are closed.

both the dancers and the cute watcher are pretty beautiful –

Coincidence Is Blessing

Coincidently waking up
With light breath
And open eyes
In a good morning
That calls for
Another day.

Some don't know the feel
And it's just a coincidence
For me?
How fair life is!
How unfair life is!

Be blessed, dear.
Be blessed everyday
With the blessings
That come from
Every other way.

That coincidence often comes as blessings might have been ingrained in me, even more.

One Coldplay-big-fan friend said to me some time ago “If you have spare ticket for Coldplay in Singapore, please sell it to me.” He really wanted to watch Coldplay in many different places. Seems to him Coldplay has brought in a lot of good meanings into his life. Not denying this possibility, I have to admit the lyrics are powerful for those wanting to look deep in to their own selves.

I said “I will but it is a very thin chance knowing this band has tremendously massive lovers.”

Sorry, friend….

Yet one fine day in January one good friend from Jakarta texted me asking if he can let me buy two Jan 30’s Coldplay show tickets as he was “suddenly” assigned for a biz trip and would not make it to be in Singapore for the show. What a blow! This friend and his wife would have met me before or after the show so I was kind of upset to hear the news. Yet at the same time I remembered that one friend would be super excited to buy the tickets.

What a coincidence!

Long story short the Coldplay-big-fan friend agreed to buy two. He wanted to watch with his friend this time.

Some time after he agreed, he texted me again saying that his friend could not fly in for the show. Honestly I felt it was another coincidence as I was also thinking of going again – I found listening to “Biutyful” live was addictive to me. So, I asked if it was ok for me to buy the other ticket: Coincidently he agreed; he must have really wanted to watch with his special friend yet he welcomed me nicely.

excited in my 3rd watch! more? no, no, it was the last for the “Music of The Spheres World Tour”, now time to enjoy them back in Apple Music 😃

So, this time we watched from above. A very stunning view with all the well-arranged illumination and performance.

Another coincidence. My friend and I didn’t say anything about which tee to wear yet both of us happened to wear the same one: Coldplay 2023 Tokyo special edition design. Wow!

We both went crazy blended with others who were as crazy as us. I don’t know when I will meet him again after the show but I truly thank him for giving me a lesson that someone can love something (in his case a band) that he is capable of explaining almost all fun facts about the band that I didn’t even think exist. Memorizing all songs’ lyrics, knowing albums and EP contents, and so on and so forth! Thank you, KM-san! God bless you. 🙏🏼

I asked him how he could memorise all lyrics. His answer was annoyingly true “If you love something, you will remember.” Damn! I just realized forgetful is my middle name especially when dealing with passwords and where I put small stuff. 😂

Jan 31 was another merry day. My niece watched with her best friend and they stayed overnight in my home after that. Her friend is a journalist who knows how to access “Kampung Badui Kanekes” that I have dreamed of visiting. To my excitement he agreed to escort me to visit the unique ethnic group in Banten anytime I want to go. ♥️

Should I underestimate a coincidence? Or, actually there is no that that we call coincidence. It is just a lesson that we never clearly see and (hopefully) later will be well learnt.

Thank You!!!!

among all this is my favourite photo – Angel Moon❣️ BIUTYFUL!!!

favourite of mine ♥️

Mine The Life

Those who never get drunk
Of love
Will misunderstand it.

Lust and love
Are coal and diamond.
One is clear around a lady's finger.
One is dark in a lady's fireplace.

Which of which, Beloved
Is precious?
Either
In different dimensions.

Hard or Light

To remember you is hard
With only shadow in my eyes.
To touch you is hard
With dimensions between us.
To see you is hard
With you unwilling to show up.
To hear you is hard
With your vague heads-up.
Yet to love you is light
As light as light brightening my heart.

someone is lucky to be capable of loving even that whose heart is a frozen clover 🍀

The Music Is

Once I saw a name
On one of my 100 days
Then a cloud flew
Over the same night
Sweeping away a story
Leaving an end
Hanging silently
With no word
Just my throbbing heart
Counting how long spaces were.
Then I asked you
"Did I really see
You?"

Life Given

Life is given
Each day
To those
Falling in love.

How can I not breathe
You?

the flowers give life to the statue

Atsushi Taniguchi is a florist whose flower arrangements define that that i call falling in love — colourful yet not busy, packed yet not congested, priceless yet not expensive, easy yet not cheap, meticulous yet not complicated

💕

Ultimate Commitment

I can only love me
As me is the closest
One
To
You.

——

hello, bitter reality — I will take care of you as I commit to myself 🙏🏼💕

how much hurting the sarcasm, euphemism and talking numbers people intentionally sent to me, it will just hurt themselves 🙏🏼💕

I won’t send blessings anymore as blessings are free for them to earn by themselves 🙏🏼💕

Released

It hurts when released.
In heart.
It hurts when kept.
In all.
And so I released.
All.

——-

I sent blessings and prayers to those passing away not known by their family — whoever and wherever you are all, I am one of those remember you as a family member 💕 May all beings be happy

I believe they are released from any unhappiness

🙏🏼

Falling in Love

If not because of 
Love,
This soul won’t soar,
This heart won’t throb,
This head won’t radiate,
These palms won’t trust sensations.

If because of
Love all are alive,
And so
I fall in
Love
Every single
Day

With
You.

The same
You
Over and over
Again.

——

falling in love is everyday whole year like butternut squash 💕

picture: RC Gorman’s work of art

Pearls on The Cheeks

Pearls sliding down
The slope of this face
End in a clear lake
Reflecting a tiny shadow
Of my singing heart

About this journey
About the weak
About the unprotected
About the underprivileged
About those
Who are turned to a line of batteries
To charge a machine
Called
Greed.

Wet my cheeks,
Flood my heart,
Keep me clear
So I can see what is.

——

choosing to spread smiles and to silently recite unchained melody of peace and love to those 💕 the least I can do

my praying heart goes to those civilians especially those underprivileged, weak, unprotected, betrayed anywhere they are on Mother Earth

May all beings be happy. Free from suffering.

🙏🏼

(picture from Pinterest)

Beautifully, Humbly

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 💚

Happy Birthday, Ibu

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 🙂

Self Care

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

💚

Reflection

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

Turning Point

Fragrance of sambac
Ferries the wish to the love
Reborn with new scents.

——

The death of my beloved nephew at young age (22 yo) is one extreme turning point in how I see life and what is in it.

I am not sad anymore and not considering it a loss anymore. Just drying tears and grateful smiles so — remembering how good his life was. How someone with so big mental wound could survive life by serving others in such a fun witty ways. 🥰 We now know how much we loved him and how tremendously he loved us.

Yet….

reborn

not interested in talking in group except for work;

prefer seeing life more lightly yet deeply at the same time;

choose to seclude myself by doing what I can do genuinely; if not, I will stay away;

respond to human interaction differently and it might have hurt people in outer rings; it doesn’t matter

still the same human being yet not the same anymore;

so amazed how losing loved ones can change someone so significantly. And the reality shows me whom are real and unreal, true and untrue…. 💚

Life is mysteriously beautiful.

Thank You so very much!

Alfatihah.

my younger brother’s 1st son was a newborn death; my older brother’s sons: one died at 10, the other at 22 wishing them to be reborn with love, prosperity and luck 💕😊 you’re (always) in my heart and (sometimes) at my left wrist, boys! 💕💕😊

Fully Paid

Journey becomes light
When promise is fully paid.
The breeze flows sweetly.

——

beautifully ready for melukat this morning to clean and clarify my life intension and for my dearest nephew ♥️ now his wish for melukat is fully paid — live happily in the other side, my dear 💕 and I have a good feeling that my life is on the right path with my heart losing no love

melukat in Tirtha Empul when it was still quiet this morning — no, I don’t like crowd 🙏🏼 don’t bring me to noisy parties!

Pilgrimage

This life’s pilgrimage
Spiralling in to the core
Of old house within.

——

a mosque in Tokyo — Tokyo Jamii (Camii)

entrance — assalamualaikum, Tokyo Camii

mosque area – 2nd floor

i still know how to do sholat tahiyatul masjid (praying to respect mosque), recite QS Arrahman that is full of gratitudes and praises so i did it

the feel was exactly like when i pray in the temples and shrines

a feeling of home 💕

then a beautiful sister helped me with photo taking — she made me much taller, slimmer yet less me 😁 thank you 💕

time to fly home — thank you, Tokyo 💕

you make me love myself more and more, with all the wounds and scars

My Heart Is

They have said 
I am lost.

What I see…
I am in a forest away
From comfort of thought.
I am not in a castle
In which mind is blunted.
My heart finds home
In which 25 prophets
And 1000 saints
Have found the paths.

It is a way
That all Prophets and Saints bless.

I am home
With the flow
That brings petals
To where fragrance blends
With clarity of fluids,
Various fluids
Gliding to a vast ocean
Of love.

——

i don’t care anymore what i am called by them — Muslim? Alhamdulillah, Sufi? Subhanallah, Buddhist? Masya Allah

what i am sure of is that my sutra is sutra of love with which all prophets and saints have travelled, whatever religions they have been associated with

thank you

💕

Two

There are two gateways
To enter one gallery
Full of works of art.

——

my left side of face is sadder, bitter and negative with which i’ve been made more and more accepting to unwelcoming sides of life 💕

my right is happier, sweeter and optimistic that has persuaded me to be more and more letting go of what is not working after some good deed 💕

whatever unpleasant and pleasant things others say about me, i feel complete with some gap that might not need to be bridged simply to show that imperfection is a perfect gift in life 💕

Note: the picture at the bottom is batik scarf designed by Dudung Aliesyahbana, a batik maestro from Pekalongan, Central Java

Remote & Intimate

💕

work from remote in people’s thought

it is more than enough to have this in my work from remote to accompany my mother and….

…. to take off celebrating what good about life – one of them is he whose love to life is like cool water 😁 💕

Bloom

This heart blooms and blooms
Leaving quiet budding season,
Emerging from mud.

——

One of my friends complained why all my poems are about love, like I am either falling in love or broken hearted day by day.

After some time of chat and juice against wine glasses that friend answered one’s own question.

“Ya! Life is about loving: smoothly or broken-heartedly. Now I know what you mean. I thought all were about romance! Ahhh!”

I tried a sip of wine from that friend’s glass.

“You’ll get drunk more at home and write more love poems!” Said that friend laughing.

“Yes, I won’t give up this love whatever interpretation is thrown about me to me. I am thankful enough to have very few true friends who understand.”

Salaam.

true love is too tasteless for those weighing it with money; yet too complex for those weighing it with faith — for those not knowing the true secrets behind words, love is just a marriage between distrust and fear hidden in sparkling plastic 🙃 i know love is still beautiful whether it is well understood or misunderstood 💕

Love Is Not Leaving

Love is not leaving.
Kernel then seedling then tree;
Stays yet multiplies—

——

After some journey and some work finally dinner was here now and it was an unforgettable one.

This long dragged day is nothing compared to today’s dinner. A dinner accompanied by a poem.

Yes my life is full of flower.

Thanks for the blessings!

Salaam.

♥️

sure it is about flowers — thanks much! i feel a tiny love bouncing and getting bigger and bigger in my heart when eating

they put it under my green tea; what a sweet creativity this restaurant demonstrates — will never forget this!

Happy Together

Walking the aisle
Two smiling earthlings can’t stop waving hands
To us
Who wonder
“They were toddlers we hugged,
Now they read solemn vow?”
It is a happy day
When we pray, laugh and eat together
Witnessing happiness that proceeds.

——

Matt, my best friend’s youngest son is getting married today! Matt and Cheer, Tante Rike happy for you 😘😘😘 send me all our pictures ♥️

cheering with groom’s mama after eating 😂 day is good with those looking forward to bright days ♥️

Love ‘Coz It’s Time

There’s a crook
I can’t understand.
It is when I saw
You in silence
And said in heart
“I find no reason in
You for me to love but
What is this emotion?”
There’s another
I can understand.
It is when I felt
A warm summer
And said in heart
“There’s enough reason to love
You in silence
That forever blooms.”

No reason is needed to love
For love is blind.
Yet there’s reason to keep the love
For love is the only kind.

It’s time
When it’s time.

——

my orchids after one week left home alone

welcome! my orchids have taught me that flowers bloom when it’s time; not to be seen, not to be picked, not to be admired; they’re blooming simply to bloom — there’s only one reason to understand: it’s time

what is her ID? unknown and still beautifully blooming

with a line of my white shirts hanging as the background, this oncidium is gonna be yellow

another stem of oncidium waiting for its timing to greet me with yellow

dendrobium peeps again — thank you

dendrobium from the same cluster in the same pot that keeps greeting me with health and happiness