Departures

Too many gone
Like a tree whose branches are ripped off by a wild malicious wind
Howling to see me standing still. Bare.
A quiet fury builds inside me

I shed tears like trees shedding leaves because Persephone has gone under the earth spring no more

Walls around me crumbling before my eyes and i alone marooned on a rock at sea

I feel like a crumpling piece of paper

Hits me on three sides
At work my dream team
At home my best friends
And vani... vani's son
Reminding me how transient life is

But.. i can't stay dowm forever
When i hear others chatting about other things... mundane laughable i smile too
Life is ok.
Sometimes i cant bear what has happened to vani

Other times i think
Its ok.. i have a full rich life
I trained kids for dance
I watched my daughters and nephews performances
Life is but a walking shadow
Those who survive thrive
Those who dont
Just fall off
Nameless faceless
Burdens borne by the silent weary

Between places

What does reading between places do to me?
It ... speaks to me of my own nostalgia
I wonder now about his father and also my grandfather who just died this year
Almost alone. With bed sores. His ring finger broken by a thief looking for the ring
He only wore the ring to remember my mum
What of him do i carry in me if at all
I shudder because he was type cast villain all my life
But now
In my mother's remembrances... he emerges slightly different
And should we thus only romanticize the errant one
What about the woman who gives of her life to her family
Who is and has always been around for them to be exasperated with?
What justice do i serve if i seek out the story of one and not the other?
I have no memories of this grandfather save one.
Him speaking to me on the eve of my wedding -him sitting on a short wall somewhere me standing shyly before him not knowing him save that he was my mum's father..  him giving me a handwritten prayer on airmail paper... the prayer he had taught my mother.. the note that by some miracle i never lost though i lose things so easily.. that turned up about a year before my longed for baby was conceived... i said that prayer the whole year before she was borm and sayit to this day.. just two of the 5 stanzas.. and in that one small handwritten gift he has been with me..

And he leaves me wondering... what life is it when no one feels like mourning when you are gone... well not no one because my mother mourned him.. and maybe her youngest sister...

Someone so old so weak so frail...

Miserly perhaps?

What are stories i have of him?

He squandered my grandmother's wealth. He couldn't stand up to his father and sisters. Gave them everything. Poured sambar on her head once.

Kicked her like a dog before his sons forever cutting off that young boy's love...

How to sympathise with someone like this.
And yet
And yet
This is only one story yes... i have not lived it seen it..
So now he lies at 80 plus years alone alone... amd i have the one letter and a host of unanswered questions

Well rested

Its so rare i feel this well rested.
I've slept well this weekend. With two hour naps on both weekends plus esrlt night last night.
Thank you so much

Ninagawa Macbeth

One of the best performances ever.
Really once in a life time experience
Made me appreciate the quiet moments the tender moments the moments of great weight. So much is in the pauses the expressions the tones. Drama is so much more than words. I felt it.
And truly painterly too. I get it. An artist's vision on stage.

Grief.. love.. how ambition can tear the family apart.. the sweeping cloaks in matching designs to show camaraderie.
Kabuki witches.
Cello music.

For me the familiar western strains gave me a start

Once a tree

The space courdened off
By green fences
Blue tarpaulin
Like an accident site
Or murder

Where once stood a tree with leafy branches extended skyward
There stands a stump
A week later, before moss takes root
In place of the stump lies ground sawdust
A week later a square, clean and grey..
Cemented over like
there never was a tree at all

The price of progress

Me vs me

The meena i want to be
Is protesting with the meena i am
And like sam i am
Who likes eggs and green ham
I want to stop all that im doing
And suddenly find all the work done
A magic wand a wrinkling nose
These would be of great help now

My contributions

Bleah.
Work review. A time of accounting. And boasting.
What have been my achievements let me count the ways.
1. Cdc ftr
2. Cdc syll review
3. Forged and deepened partnerships with elis and nie to support lit... nlb poetry in focus
4. Inaugural lit kp dialogue
5. Digital resources

Brittle bones

Our brittle bones
crack upon contact
With machines we build
A tiny pile of bones an offering to metal gods
Like the bones of a bird crushed in our hands
The fluttering heart can stop with one tight squeeze

Yet we strut as if we owned it all
----

Thoughts while walking past a bulldozer
-----

Brittle bones
crack upon contact
with machines we build

An offering to metal gods

Like a sunbird in our hands whose fluttering heart we stop
tiny ribcage we crush
With just one squeeze

Yet we strut as if we own it all

Work waves

The work i have yet to do
Feels like an ocean
With me just surfing the crests
Every day getting only mu toes wet
Never diving any deeper even as the ocean rises

Seeing a cardiologist

He's alright 😀

13 reasons

The book doesn't make one want to commit suicide. Instead it makes one think about the unintended consequences our words and actions may have on people.

Like... the inspector calls from a high school perspective

And anniyan where one mis step leads to another leads to another until tragedy strikes.

Plus i think americam high school life is miserable. All kids want to do is get kissed get hands under tee shirts get raped at awful parties with beer and bully one another. Makes me want to reconsider moving to america!

Tribute 3

Draft 3

Dear dell dear dell
Before you came...
life wasn’t quite so swell
the office had a smell
and other things we’ll let Leonard tell

You got to work, helped us gel
For some of us, you became a pal
For the rest, well, sensational
Even in track shoes so very professional
As a pacesetter you’ve got no parallel

You tapped the pulse of Ps and KPs, our clientele
You read the minds of senior personnell
(What they might say, you often did foretell)
And helped us do our show-and-tell
Soon our syllabi will go national!

Thanks for boosting our morale
It feels like we are losing a precious jewel
We would have liked to write you a villenelle
Or at least offer you chocolate with caramel
All we have, alas, are a few lines written pel mel

Dear dell dear dell
Soon on the third floor you will dwell
We are going to miss you as you can tell
Dear Dell dear Dell
We bid you a fond farewell...

Dear dell dear dell
You are really such a rebel

Tribute

Dear dell dear dell
Before you came... life was hell
We were stuck down a well
You lifted us up and helped us gel

For some of us, you've been a pal
For the rest....sensational
You read the minds of senior personnell
And our syllabuses you help us sell
Now everyone knows lit and el
Soon we will go national

Always the professional
Even in track shoes -formidable
Soon on the third floor you will dwell
The journey with you has been incredible

Dear dell dear dell
You are truly non paril
We are so going to miss you as you can tell
With our hands on our hearts we bid you farewell
Now we ring this bell
Amd we wish you well wish you well

Draft 2

Dear dell dear dell
Before you came...
life wasn’t quite so swell
the office had a smell
and other things we’ll let Leonard tell

You got to work, helped us gel
For some of us, you became a pal
For the rest, well, sensational
Your track shoes are very professional
As a pacesetter you’ve got no parallel

You tapped the pulse of Ps and KPs, our clientele
You read the minds of senior personnell
(What they might say, you often did foretell)
And helped us do our show-and-tell
Soon our syllabi will go national!

Soon on the third floor you will dwell
Dear dell dear dell
We are going to miss you as you can tell
Dear Dell dear Dell
We bid you a fond farewell

We would have liked to write a villenelle
Or at least offer you chocolate with caramel
Instead all we have is this little bell
And a few lines that run pel mel

Thanks for boosting our morale
It feels like we are losing a precious jewel

Even as we sing jingle bell

Focus

Focus on learning not performing
A new mantra for us for us for me

3 2

When 3 becomes 2
A shade rolls down your face
A mask pops up
U smile on cue
But you can never forget
3 became 2

When 3 becomes 2
You just continue
Because there are still 2
Who need you need you

2 becomes 1 is romantic
3 becomes 2 is tragic

Trees past trees

A truck of trees drive through an avenue of trees
Do they look on their fallen friend and wonder
But for the grace of man (not god)
There go I

Words

Words can
Slice
Float
Linger
Fill the spaces between us
Hang in the air
Drop in a pool
Send ripples out
Over time

Words can
Stab
Pierce
Tear
Light up
Lift
Make you fly

Time

20 years feels like nothing almost
20 years ago i was 17
First loves
Firsts of many things...

What does it mean to have been living in singapore for the past 20 years

What does it mean that in 10 short years i'll be nearly 50
Its unreal all these numbers...

I am no writer

I am no writer
Just
A collector of words
Stringing thoughts and hopes
Fears of loss

A stringer of words
That collect like dust
In corners and crevices
That suddenly burst forth

All around changes

All around me changes
Oceans heaving
Throwing up new heads
Rolling away the sand and silt
Depositing them on other departments
The grand shake up
While some of us
Stay like moss on the walls
Become the walls
Greying into the structures we hold up

About the bottle

My water bottle
Flies down from the second floor
Flung by my "friends"
To the hard concrete ground

I tell them to stop
They roll it near the bin
I hold back my tears
And pull it back with a rusty umbrella

My aunty tells the boys
Dont throw his bottle
They say "it wasnt us"
My baby sister knows it was them

I shant play will them
I cry at home
Safe away from their eyes
Then i think
I may play with them
But i will bring a cup instead

I
Have
Only
collected
Seven friends Like pearls
over time
Strung them together - an amulet
To keeps me going
Now i watch the beads scatter
Across the globe.
And i pause
Just a moment
Then smile- For we will fit right back together
Whenever we meet

Friends like pearls

7I've collected my friends
Like precious pearls over time
One at secondary
Two at Jc
Three at uni
Strung them together - an amulet
To keeps me ticking
Now i watch the beads scatter
Across the globe
But i dont wonder
For we will fit right back together
Whenever we meet

I've collected my friends
Like pearls over time
Strung them together - an amulet
Now the beads scatter
Across the globe.

And i pause
Just a moment
Then smile- For we will fit right back together
Whenever we meet

I've collected my friends
Like precious pearls over time
Strung them together - an amulet
To keeps me going
Now i watch the beads scatter
Across the globe.
And i pause
Just a moment
Then smile- For we will fit right back together
Whenever we meet

I collect my friends
Like pearls over time
String them together - an amulet
Now the beads scatter
Across the globe.

5 i collect my friends
7 like precious pearls over time
5 string them together
7 an amulet- now the beads
7 scatter - all across the globe.

I collect my friends
like freshwater pearls over time-
An amulet. Now
They scatter across the marble floor
Ever ready to string back again.

I collect my friends
like freshwater pearls over time-
An amulet. Now
They scatter across the oceans
Ever ready to string back again.

I collect my friends over time
freshwater pearls for an amulet.
Now They scatter
across the marble floor
Ever ready to string back again.

Poetic musings

Walking along the canal one arm holding onto the other's elbow at the back
Takes me to my grandfather
Watching him walk in his all white - white shirt and white dhoti, his lower lip sticking out slightly his eyes greying and crinkly smiling

Seeing the green kilis..hearing their insistent calls among the verdant trees says this is home more than the trees near my place. Avenues of trees and a long body of water just draws birds in.

Then i see
Two domestic workers walking their owners dogs
Sitting to chat under the shade of a tree
Dogs leashes held close
They turn in knees almost knocking
While the dogs turn out, not keen on each other

One of the less docile dogs barks at a passing man. He scolds the helper. Sje scolds the dog. The serenity of the scene disrupted

The kilis calls interrupt my reverie. A flock ascends as one from one tree. Another individual from another tree suddenly lifts off to join them as if to say "wait for me"

In the canal a flotissa of junk... plastic bags a condom
Ready to add to the plastic in the sea

Gathering of thoughts

I think.. the session went well
We have some marvellous friends among us who helped.
The guy came up and shared stuff personally to help me (and him) save face.
Make the explanation of the placing of dialogue and writing circle explicit

They probably feel heard.
They like the eye and will incorporate these.

Changes for assessmemt
-short story have an open qn
-dont make all qn about style for pbq and unseen

Can we suggest working with el so the other texts they bring in link with our core texts?

How can we equip teachers with the know how for planning the curriculum?
Prep teachers for the lack of teacher control

They may not ditch their favorite parts like post structuralist and drama performance and all.

Can we have more essays?
Plans for future :
1. Comparative texts
2. Only essays for novel

She offers me a cup 2

She offers me a cup
Of love, overflowing;
All two and a half feet of her.

She curls snug
Into the shape of me
"Aatha, don't die"
She whispers sleepily.

In the morning,
her butterfly kisses melt me.
I rise, to find her
Gone.

"Today, I'll go to school myself"
She announces
I watch her little legs
Carry her as fast they can
Little ponytails bobbing
Into the future

Without me.

Ariel beckons

For Sylvia

I discovered you too late
Lady Lazarus layered in ash
Phoenix that refused to burst from flames
Farewell.

Ariel beckons
I turn. I must.
Leaves tremble. I gaze upon
Paintings inked in the skies.
Tulips, red, breathing - just.

Dying is an Art.

Ariel, Ariel.
Daddy beckoned.

The beachfront set the trap
The wall of green glass drew you in
Why did you answer?

Ariel, Ariel.
I beckon..

You are
Gone.

Tree tops flutter two

Tree tops flutter with the call
of birds at dusk roosting home.

We are 18 on a branch
jostling and screeching our news
Flights we've made and worms we've caught.

We know which tree to fly to -
a special space among friends,
making this tree home, not that.

And so..., but so..., just so..., if

my fellow feathered friends choose
other trees on other shores...
if I'm left, one bird, alone
can I still call this tree home?

Tree tops flutter

Tree tops flutter with the call
of birds at dusk roosting home.
We, like ten birds on a branch,
(eighteen, if we count the chicks),
jostle and screech our news too -
of flights we've made, worms we've caught.

We know which tree to fly to -
a special space among friends,
making this tree home, not that.
And so..., but so..., just so..., if

my fellow feathered friends choose
other trees on other shores...
if I'm left, one bird, alone
can I still call this tree home?

Tree tops flutter

Tree tops flutter with the call
of birds at dusk roosting home.

We, like 10 birds on a branch,
(18, if we count the chicks),

jostle and, screech our news too -
of flights we've made, worms we've caught.

We know which tree to fly to -
a special space among friends,

making this tree home, not that.
And so..., but so..., just so..., if

my fellow feathered friends choose
other trees on other shores...

If I'm left, one bird, alone
Can I still call this tree home?

We birds

We are 10 birds on a branch,
(18, if we count the chicks)
We Jostle and screech our news
Of flights that day, worms we catch.

We know which tree to fly to
A special space among friends
Making this tree home, not that
And so..., but so..., just so..., if

My fellow feathered friends choose
Other trees on other shores
If I'm left one bird alone
Can I still call this tree home?

Trees flutter 2

Trees fluttering with the call
Of birds at dusk remind me
That all creatures, big and small
Need a roosting place called home.

We, like 10 birds on a branch,
(18, if we count the chicks)
Jostle, screech our news daily
Of flights that day, worms we catch.

We know which tree to fly to
A special space among friends
Making this tree home, not that
And so..., but so..., just so..., if

My fellow feathered friends choose
Other trees on other shores
If I'm left one bird alone
Can I still call this tree home?

Trees fluttering

Trees fluttering with the call
Of birds at dusk remind me
That all creatures, big and small
Need a roosting place called home.

Maybe twenty on a branch
They jostle and screech their news
Telling each other of their
Flight that day, the worms they caught.

Each knows which tree to fly to
A special space among friends
Making this tree home, not that
And so, but so, just so, if

My fellow feathered friends choose
Other trees on other shores
If I'm left one bird alone
Can I still call this tree home?