Page 5: Poems 49-60

     (49) Canberra

     This capital city with chessboard streets and roads,

     Was built in the middle of nowhere with gold in loads.
     From Parliament House our leaders intend to rule
     This lucky country of ours like many a fool.

     The politicians and bureaucrats live here

     In the lap of luxury with their paramour.
     And every now and then scandals break out
     To sink careers to the media’s cheer and shout.

     In this chessboard of a city high drama took place.

     Here Gough cursed Kerr’s cur till he was red in the face.
     And Fraser preached that life’s not meant to be easy
     Here Hawke wept and confessed to being sleazy.

     And Keating has saved us from a banana state,

     But Prefect John was shocked, thrown out the school gate.
     The fiery Gillard waltzed into the top post
     Over the body of hapless Rudd her host.

     These are our leaders now and in the past;

     You would have thought a nation like this won’t last.
     To the surprise of all, our  grows
     From strength to strength, though fortune ebbs and flows;

     Born in slavery, to freedom we ourselves devote

     And change our leaders at the casting of a vote.
     My love best represents this our realm, fair,
     Youthful and free, all sunshine and fresh air.   



     (50) Earthquake in Japan

      A catastrophic, cataclysmic quake

     Has rocked Japan, which was, for heaven’s sake,
     The first ever to cop an atomic blast,
     Causing a calamity ten times more than the last.

     The quake brings building down like packs of cards;

     When the tsunami sweeps all, houses, cars,
     Boats, aircrafts, as though they’re make of board.
     To complete the assault nuclear reactors explode.

     After defeat in war and the baptism of fire,

     And after abandoning its military might, the empire
     Has won this time with economic might;
     Technologies there have reached a great height.

     Typhoons and earthquakes are part of the empire’s history.

     A typhoon helped to score a resounding victory
     Against the Mongols, and Kamikaze tried
     To repeat the feat, but couldn’t turn the tide.

      Hiroshima and Nagasaki in waste,

     After two atom bombs first left their taste.
     And now in peace fierce Nature plays her hand,
     Tectonic shifts and seismic waves rock the land.

      No mushroom clouds, no blinding flashes here,

     Just dense smoke, conflagrations here and there.
     But nuclear reactors are melting down and send
     Dense radiation poison all over the land.

     Does this apocalypse herald the end

     Of time? Or a caution about the vagaries and
     Surprises of life? To me it demonstrates
     Our best-laid plans can be destroyed by Fate.

     We’ve no control o’er tangible things, which must

     Sooner or later crumble and turn to dust.
     The only thing that’ll last is eternal love,
     Which shields us in peace as we through chaos move.

      (51) Casinos

     Casinos are gambling dens, which stink

     No less by any other name, and sink
     Big fortunes in the twinkle of an eye
     By means insidious, nefarious and sly.

     First they would lure you with freebies and vouchers,

     For which the gamblers play long and submit to tortures,
     Watch how the desperado stake their rent and meal
     On the dealing of a card or spin of a wheel.

     With deafening noise they violently cheer and shout,

     As though the cards and wheels have ear and snout
     And would bring better luck by trying harder,
     Or rub the cards to make them lower or higher.

     Now have a close look at the gamblers’ anatomy.

     Their faces gaunt and pale, distorted in agony,
     From sleep deprivation, their eyes red and dry,
     Their veins protruding and ready to burst and die.

      Behind the scene, all evils are perpetrated.

     At road’s end,, some ’ve their own death orchestrated,
     Jumped out of the window or at the end of a rope.
     Yes, once their lives were full of joy and hope.

     Should Hogarth be here, he would great etchings make

     To emulate “Gin Lane” or Progress of a Rake.
     But it is lucrative biz; the revenue offers
     Inflate the owners’ pockets and government’s coffers.

     So take my advice. Seek not what depends on chance,

     And secure a winner in your heart at once,
     True love, which is yours for as long as you live.
     How can you lose if all you wants is to give?

(52) Deformities

     Deformities take many a different form

     The physical ones are easy to perceive,
     But less of an obstacle. One can perform
     Great feats and some true greatness can achieve.

     Deaf Beethoven heavenly music did compose,

     And blind Bocelli can like an angel sing,
     While Hawkins, wheelchair-bound and mute, can traverse
     The universe on cosmological wings.

     Deformities of the mind can be well disguised.

     What dazzling appearance, gaiety and charms
     What public adulation, have hidden the demise
     Of a mangled soul with broken heart and arms.

     The niddle riddled bodies of pop singers and stars

     Can be hidden with makeup, glamorous dress and robe,
     But their souls can be deformed and marred.
     Blind, crippled or leprous, if you care to probe.

     Should one develops a spiritual X-ray eye,

     He’ld see behind the charlatan the ass;
     Behind the marble mansion a pig in the sty,.
     But also the inner beauty you possess.

     (53) Singapore

     Taking a famous Singapore Airlines flight,

     One would have already received a welcome sight.
     The Singapore girls commercials in action as such,
     Attentive service with a graceful touch.

     Once landed, the warm, fresh tropical sea breeze

     Would waft around you in gentle soft embrace.
     Soon it would impress upon you how squeaky clean
     Is this island state, where punishment for littering is mean.

     Some of its old colonial heritage remains;

     The Raffles, where the melodious refrains
     Of a bygone era echo in its hall ways,
     Though overshadowed by modern buildings these days.

     A quintessential racial melting pot,

     Here Chinese, Malays and Indians and the whole lot
     Work side by side in perfect harmony,
     At a relaxed pace, one can easily see.

     Despite its easy-going life style the port

     Has the infrastructure and skills to support
     One of the busiest shipping industries,
     A fortress in war and trading post in peace.

     Is it then a tropical paradise on earth?

     Far from it. Things aren’t what they seem. Observe:
     The whole scene ‘s run by Harry Lee’s close clan,
     Opponents either in jail or on the run.

     Who cares if people are fed and housed in style?

     A benign dictatorship. Just watch their smile.
     Hard working, docile, like the stewardess.
     No doubt, these make it good for business.

     Then again the government runs the place like a shop;

     The customers happy, the coffers filled to the top.
     Here life can be quite comfortable and nice,
     Devoid of the freedom that you epitomize.

     (54) Children

     As I observe small children going to school,

     With bouncing steps and angelic faces all,
     On their back in big school bags they carry tools
     Of education, I see no trace of the fall.

     The fruit of knowledge brought down Adam and Eve,

     Yet in children I see no original sin and believe
     To bring out their sinful nature they have to feed
     On more knowledge, as water to a sprouting seed.

     Think me a cynic? The truth remains unchanged.

     Along with worldly knowledge schools have arranged,
     For making a living or a name, they’ll learn
     And practice the evil ways with little concern.

     First teach them the three Rs and craft and art,
     Then higher knowledge, skills of trade impart,
     To equip them to survive in a ruthless world
     And strive for money, power and reward.

     Naive young minds learn not from books alone;

     Few teachers are saints with shining virtues shown.
     And soon the penny drops, to thrive in life,
     One has to be false and cruel in ignoble strife.

     Yes, once successful, they would strut the stage,

     And flaunt their ill-gained wealth in style and prestige.
     Yet some are not so lucky and learn in the street
     How to survive by their wits and think on their feet.

     All sins since Adam took root first in society;

     Through learning we suck in all our guilt and misery.
     Yet some rare breed takes only the wholesome fare;
     Learns wisdom, yet still a child like you my dear.

     (55) Youth

     Eternal youth the most illusive goa

     Sought by mankind since time immemorial.

     All human means have been explored, and all
     Divine rituals performed to no avail.

     Now new technologies and surgeries are at call

     To help with botox, collagen, stem cell.
     Yet all the beautifications of the outside
     Are designed the onslaught of aging and decay to hide.

     Yes, exercise of the body and the mind

     May help to conquer aging and to find
     The spring of youth with yoga and meditation,
     And hopefully regain rejuvenation.

     Internal peace and health might beautify

     The external with youthful complexion and sparkling eye.
     But one needs passion to be young at heart,
     And love with purity as at first love’s start.


     (56) Memory

     Our memory is a playback of the past

     From our first conscious day towards our last.
     The seconds, minutes, hours, days and years
     Rotate in regular and synchronized gears.

   The turning disk belt out many a tune,

     From ticks and screeches of a life in ruin
     To boring repetition of a broken track,
     Connoting menial working days of a hack.

    Yet memory can be sweet of a meaningful life.

      There’re ups and downs, great victories and hard strife,
      Together playing out a symphony of joy
      And sorrow, from a crescendo and back to a repertoire.

    As the music plays, there’re visions before my eye

      Of precious moments, times both low and high.
      But the happiest memory of all, the brightest star
      Is the time I shared with you, the loveliest by far.

(57) A New World

      The earth is many billion years of age

      But witnesses something new each day; each page
      Of history of the universe reveals
      The death of old stars and the birth of new.

      Has hosted generations of human races,

      Seen the evolution and extinction of species.
      Never gets weary but attends with motherly hand
      The birth of new lives and nourishes the land.

      There may be wars and destruction, famine, disease,

      But time heals all. If life on earth should cease,
      Nature will regenerate this planet the way
      It did when Earth was a ball of fire, the first day.

      Our minds are our internal worlds, They might

      Dart aimlessly in a murky or starry night.
      Or barren and dark as dead stars or black holes.
      But can be vernal planets with lives and souls.

      Each morning the mind can observe the rosy lips

      Of the sun rise o’er the hills’ See how it creeps
      Higher into a golden disk. Behold,
      Experience and wisdom give new life to the old.

      As we look into the eyes of the ones we love,

      We can see something new, some greener grove
      Grow over the old, and new blossoms shine
      Brighter than before, as we gaze into yours and mine.

      (58) Success

     Success, illusive tempress lures us on the way
     To extreme exertion, hope, despair and decay!,
     Be it in winning the lotto or beat the bank,
     Reaching high office in the world or high rank.

     The mighty conqueror risked his life and his band

     To override his foes till he had run out of land
     To invade, the athlete strains his limbs and his heart
     To win a medal, the artist a price in art.

     The scientist or writers bends over his desk to break

     New grounds or publish great books, whatever it takes.
     What’s their reward? The humiliation of their foes,
     The applause of admirers and eggs on their knocker’s face

      Now I can hear the footsteps of success in the hall,

     And soon it’ll be knocking on my door, and all
     The cheers and hoorays and razzmatazz will be here,
     And just as soon all these will disappear.

     What will be left with my sweet success?

     Exhaustion and a prevailing emptines    
     Success for its own sake is empty victory
     Unless it benefits all and my love can please.

(59) Rain

     Light drizzle caresses in mist the parched earth,

     Kissing the pavement and roofs with soothing breath,
     Creating soft music with its fine fine strands
     As gentle breeze strokes them with tender hands.

     Torrential shower paints with a bolder brush,

     Relieving cracking fields and crackling bush,
     And tapping pavements, rooftops, parks and bricks
     Like combos and tambourines with liquid sticks.

     A thunder storm performs a different feat,

     And water surface dances to its beat.
     Its aquatic feet stamp the hard ground and tap,
     As adoring clouds applaud the act and clap.

     It’s music without tune or melody,

     And without spoken words pure poetry.
     All sound and rhythm and dramatic sight.
     I fill my dreams with you this rainy night.

(60) Grace

     Grace’s graceful and vulgarity is vulgar,

     And skepticism or debate can never
     Change this eternal truth. Tell me all
     About taste, beauty and beholder’s eyeball.

     Since time immemorial, has ever the blow fly

     Replaced the swan as a sign of peace and joy?
     Or a budding rose paled by comparison
     With entangled weeds and nasty, creeping thorn? 

     Perhaps, some may find the slithery snakes possess

     A beauty of their own, gliding through grass,
     But most would shun their surreptitious slide.
     And Mozart will be loved long after punk’s demise.

     We can create a world of beauty and grace,

     With serene contemplation through the days
     And redolent sleep lulled by good will and prayer.
     Your grace my world pervades, layer by layer.