Thereโs a prancing deer
To tiger forgetting fear.
A striped bodyโs near.
Luck! The dear has magic ears.
It dashes and disappears.
โ
Tag: tanka
Sweet Heart
Hello, my sweetheart.
Is life still sweet and vibrant?
Nes, said twisted tongue
Who means yes but mixed with no.
Making decision is wow.
โ
Sweet is banana rice cake for breakfast and lunch. Should dinner be with the same? Please no. But where is thanksgiving if food is wasted? Sometimes good is not always good like this sweet banana rice cake that ends up as a dilemma. ๐
Lesson learnt: the karma of trying a full recipe is eating the same food the whole day without knowing to whom complaint shall be aired ๐
A Path
A path to a place
Is walked through trees and uphills.
A meadow is waiting
Opening another path
To a warm home filled with love.
โ
My friend sent me three photos of our beloved โsimbahโ (those senior people who are considered wise or those who have grandchildren) – Javanese). Most people call these simbah โbatik makerโ because they make batik to earn a living. We both call them โbatik artistโ. More than that through what weโve seen and heard about them, weโve considered they are artists of their life. How they embrace their humble life gracefully and consciously has always amazed both of us. They live like calm river flowing to the sea. They donโt struggle against what others think about or do to them. They live as if there is no hindrance and disturbance in life.
When my friend told me some things about those three honourable ladies, I secretly harvested some lessons. It is very critical reminder for me who is still very much attached to a feeling of (accidentally) underestimated and (slightly) humiliated because of one petty case. These three artists of life have silently told me to let go.
What a loud shot in a quiet weekend!
No apology is needed. All is gradually let go through my own wish and willingness. This is my life and I only want to be the artist of my own life. ๐
Thank you, artists of life. Youโre blessed. ๐
Salaam.
Morning
Morning, Beloved,
When seeds of joy is planted.
When dewdrops slide off.
What hues are painted for skies.
Whose voice will define the day.
โ
Leadership is about being able to discriminate my own thoughts and making conscious decisions for the best of the agreed direction.
after morning prayer, certain day is just soโฆ.
Dream of You
A beautiful view
Conjured by moon, sunk by sun.
It feels faraway,
A dissipating shadow.
At least I dream about you.
โ
Sunday, did you conspire with the sun to snap my dream? Never mind. Iโll call the moon again to get it back. ๐
Happy Sunday!
Kamboja
A gift, Beloved,
Pink star full of granted wish
What would you say, Self?
Thank you for this pretty gift.
Sheโll spread the fragrance and vibe.
โ
Nocturne
Nocturne, Beloved,
Desert at velvety nights;
Her hair is waving,
Where pitch and rhythm dangle
Sprinkling tones of a warm heart
โ
Night is a sweet shelter that never complains whether I snore or sing or cry or laugh or play or work or just sit on the window nook.
Sereneโฆ.
Listen
Listen, Beloved,
Humming angels keep singing
Song of union.
Ears canโt hear, too low a voice.
Heart can, swayed by the wind though.
Root deep, Beloved.
The song vibrates in the earth,
Making grass and flowers bloom,
Brightening up the meadowโ
Listen, Beloved.
โ
It takes enormous patience to listen to the silence. Hey! Is it being patient or simply allowing quietness to sit where birds and monkeys are hopping and making noise?
Listening is a skill. A skill needs practices to mastery. Mastery takes time. Time takes breathing, in, out, with awareness.
โpracticing listening mode onโ
Sky Lantern
This song, Beloved,
Sky lantern blinking at me
To read your message?
I donโt read it. I sing it
To thank you for being you.
โ
Some story is just so beautifully bitter that canโt be read, can only be recited as a musical poem โ just like your story.
Some love stories must end because of greater reason. I wish you lovers, fiancรฉes, wives, husbands, parents, children, best friends and all others broken hearted happiness. Maybe the greater reason is your own self โ yes, must be!
Salaam. ๐
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 homeโ
โ
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 laterโ ๐ค
Some dreams canโt even be describedโฆ. You are as near as far awayโฆ. ๐
Happy weekend. Oops long weekend.
Love Stories
Stories, Beloved,
Chronological events
With no emotion
She puts meanings and settings
To characters in action.
โ
I like poems loaded with love even when it is not love stories according to my friends. To me all stories are potential love stories.
I couldnโt find my left green sock and a poem about losing a beloved one was born. My kitchen lamp was blinking before switched off for good, a poem about a lover moving on after struggling reaching out to the beloved. Yet real broken heart helped me develop poems about how a heart shape blinks from white to blue to red to black before fading away.
Everything is love story between a lover and beloved. Of left and right socks. Of dark and light. Of hope and fear. Of head and heart. Of missing you and hating you. Of everything and nothing. Of me and my beloved that constantly changeable among me, you and them.
Mystery? Cheesy? It doesnโt matter. It helps me relax yet focus. โฅ๏ธ
Life is all romance through these eyes. Wish that they remain with romantic lenses until life shows its true romanticism at the end of the journeyโ
๐
00:00
Orchids
Orchidsโs 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?
How Was The Day
After one Monday,
Throw laughter before Tuesday.
Or at least a smile,
That draws a line on a face,
That strengthens steps miles away.
โ-
Laughter brings brightness. It carves good mood. It (hopefully) enables longevity.
Kite
A kite, Beloved,
A bird all wings soaring highโ
Rain, donโt fall too soon.
A kid is running, laughing.
Peaceful sky, joyful earth. Here.
Singapore – May 19, 2022 / 00:26
Amazing Day, Today
Today, Beloved,
Filled with laughter of past times.
Bitter was, sweet isโ
Time doesnโt heal. It turns taste,
Look. All is well. All shall pass.
โ
Rendezvous with my best people, those who are always with ears to listen and to be listened to, with tongue to twist bitterness to wisdom, with foolishness to laugh at whatโs not even funny but needing some appreciation.
Some people are amazing with just one reason called trust.
Blessed to have them.
Holiday is getting shorter. Letโs slow the steps and insert more meaningful conversations before it halts.
May all beings be happy.
TA – May 12, 2022 / 11:46am
You? Where?
You? Where, Beloved?
The omnipresent through air,
Undefined calmnessโ
Breeze that caresses the leaves.
Breath that blows prayer for you.
โ-
๐ฃ
Blinding Light
Blinding, Beloved,
Light when too bright. Dimly bright
Suits these eyes searching
Luminosity and cracks
Following path to a homeโ
โ-
Sometimes light disturbs eyes because its intensity is way too high than whatโs expected or needed by the eyes. eyes can only tolerate and work well with enough light. So the more isnโt always the better.
May all beings be happy.
History of A Tree
You have to believe
Nature lives with you, ruling
Games in which you are.
See colours. Watch shapes. Seasons,
Patterns count the scores to make.
Fruits rot. Flowers sere.
Leaves fall. Trunks topple. Roots die.
This plant is a name
In encyclopaedia,
Memory of its climbers.
โโ-
This body has expiry date. Iโm seeing it deteriorates in time. What will be something of me left behind?
Temasek, Ramadhan 11 / 5:55am
Drunk Without Drinking
Intoxicated
Without drink, just dream of you.
Sensing from afarโ
From a distance it is you.
The true you? A perceived you?
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ-
I learn about fasting gradually, starting from childโs fasting to earn presents then knowing it as shoum then as shiyam. All refer to the same activity but have different level of loaded meanings. In Arabic when word is added with one letter, the type of word changes, the voice changes and the depth or load of meaning also changes. The word ุตูู (shoum) has three letters, while ุตูุงู (shiyam) consists of four letters. Therefore, the word shiyam has a deeper meaning than the word shoum. There are even some circles that distinguish the meaning of the two words.
The word shiyam means to refrain from things that cancel (eating, drinking, sexual intercourse) performed with good intention, while the word shoum means leaving things that cancel fasting or not talking. In the Quran the word shoum can be found when Maryam the mother of Prophet Isa (Jesus) intended to stop eating and talking after the birth of him. While shiyam can be found as an instruction to do fasting in Ramadhan month.
I wish my fasting flies to the place where even Angel Gabriel (Jibril) canโt go in then my fasting goes back bringing me better understanding of how a human being should serve the living.
May all beings be happy.
โฃ๏ธ
Sweetness
Sweetness, Beloved,
A limit everyone sets.
She has for good words,
Not for sugar. It is fine.
World gives space to all tastes.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ-
Life can be seen from many different perspectives. It can look bitter, sometimes sweet but the level of bitterness and sweetness is not standardisable. If someone wants to set a standard of bitterness based on her/his limit, s/he will suffer for her/himself. ๐
May all beings be happy (with different level of sweetness)โฃ๏ธ
rike jokanan 
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