sunset lotuses

sunset lotuses

they too have closed

for the day

john tiong chunghoo

Just woke up from a dream of earthquake. The paintings fell to the floor. The room shook so strongly, i found myself telling a friend...this is worst than the Japanese earthquake. The last time I dreamt about an earthquake was months back. The famous hotel shook so much I had to run out of it. One week later northeast Japan was striken by its worst earthquake. Hope this time it is just a dream and not a dream that would become.. ..real.

john tiong chunghoo

ice

the polar melts


in my mouth

john tiong chunghoo

Does haiku need to be taught in university? i think the real university of haiku is nature and there

is only one teacher qualified to dispense the course.. ...nature itself....you either learn from him

or not at all....you either has been enrolled by him as a student or not at all....nature tells its tale

of creation to those who seek .of things it thinks needs to be told in his own intimate and subtle

way.

Nature acting out a play to tell us something. nature talks to us in many ways.. and one of them is

definitely dream

john tiong chunghoo

Haiku - Bursting the Seam of my Taste Buds

bursting the seam

of my taste buds bulging

see through dumplings

john tiong chunghoo

Haiku - Midnight running across the Owl Pupils A Mice

midnight

running across the owl's pupils

a mouse

midnight

sprinting across the owl's pupils

a mouse

john tiong chunghoo

the tall grasses

dance with the breeze

and make a cheer

john tiong chunghoo

Ode to Autumn

a sense of longing trails each autumn

a leaf makes a change of costume and

spirals away in a wistul farewell dance

the year makes a ceremonious bidding

before turning earth into a page of white

for us to recollect and write down the memory of each day

leaf by leaf the wind tears away autumn

orchestrating a skeletal frame to rake our

thoughts of the year, instilling in us the anticipation for

another sparkling spring, blazing summer...

autumn helps us compose the days

we shed our clothes for a new

spring and sunbath a new shade

a charged bodice every cell

surges with a burst of portent energy

every autumn leaves an aftertaste of

the soothing and mellow sound

of violin where every note comes

alive with a bright orange hue the weight

of longing and anticipation

John Tiong Chunghoo

School Memory

old brass bell

echoing still

the school years

the old brass bell

solid and clear

school memories

old brass bell

reverberating still

the school years

old brass bell

this evening school memory

cold and still

john tiong chunghoo

Illusion a death warrant signed with the very thing we hang onto for life veins and arteries in a million knots not an inch to let go for breath the physique festers in a despicable illusion we had clung onto with pain and expectations john tiong chunghoo

Illusion a death warrant signed with the very thing we hang onto for life veins and arteries in a million knots not an inch to let go for breath the physique festers in a despicable illusion we had clung onto with pain and expectation john tiong chunghoo

Childhood Marble Poem
in my hands again childhood marbles how fast the years had rolled by how quietly and gently childhood had been stored away john tiong chunghoo

Dance Haiku

dance, my body

hands and feet take me

to the heavens

john tiong chunghoo

Autumn Haiku

autumn

between the falling leaves

my longing

John Tiong Chunghoo

My Poem
if my poem has lifted you up makes you feel flitting away like a butterfly, walk in a gait faster, tighter and graceful like a top model, likewise, it would have made me bloom like the most beautiful sunflower in the garden luscious petals bright and yellow a wide nature sunny grin showering a world of well wishes john tiong chunghoo

Meditating On Them All

so little is myself

a little corner left of heart

a consciousness

i claim it all - predatory

do i have full reins?

the lonely dead of night

it has choked me in tears

does it hold full reins?

we tango together for sure

sometimes together

sometimes on opposite lanes

i am a dancer with set rules to follow

and have been told to be

totally responsible for missteps

the heart it is made to

measure them all

i am just a little space on left

meditating on them all

john tiong chunghoo

Love, Love, Love

i wish to be the air you breathe love that floods your every cell revitalising you, cheering you up every second of your life i love like the rush of the Nile, Yangtze - listen, listen to this lovelorn heart, holding on, letting go, holding on with such tenacity to the pulsating wish of every lovelorn night an eclipse helps distill my love for you, seals your charms, allure from the craving prying eyes of the world, precipitates that momentuous silhouette, escapade for me and you sun and moon, yin and yang to be totally absorbed in bliss, in each other love, love, love if only i could be the only star to win your fancy for that sparkling while heaven the world would become John Tiong Chunghoo

And the Moon and the Stars and the World

long walk at night

the breeze freezes my spirit

the moon warms it up

pulling at my poetic soul

the crickets sing their poems to the night

a million other insects contribute their share

to loosen the night

for lovers, husbands and wives

while a tide of words too

creeps in all directions into my mental sphere

saturates the poetic bar of the intellect

waiting to be strummed into verses

the rhythm swims along with them

as i write out verse by verse

the moon my friend shares its light

the night wind inspires

lovelorn stars wave all the way

a million light years away

heralding the birth of another song

sparkling, twinkling

guided by the intricate orchestration of the night

before gracing the written page

long walk in the night

even the insects with the lamps

start to lend me their lights

between the twinke of the stars

they dance, sing, beat out a dance

john tiong chunghoo

OLD WELL

the old well is

an old woman,

dispirited, hunched,

aggrieved

a dark realm

reigns over here

ever ready to throw

its vengeance

on unsuspectful

strangers

only the heaven has

the generosity

to give it grace

- the rain fills it up

and when the weather is fine

the sky plays with it

a gentle childful

game of master sun,

queen moon

and angel stars

nobody ever

greets the old well

a good morning

afternoon or

evening

all they do

is ungratefully

bend over and

in a callous manner

start robbing it of its

luminuous peace

and tranquility

- an unkind bucket

that goes splash

before riding the

blessed sanctum

for its vitality yesterday, today,

tomorrow, everyday -

always in such a hurry

the water slushes,

sloshes, splashses

to play out its grouses

the old well

is an aggrieved woman

overused and

worn out with hatred

a restless soul

filled to the brim

with vengeance

and chagrin

to pass by one at night

one would be lucky

if one's heart does not

stumble and race

faster than one's feet

for the well's ominuous mouth

with all its sober

and solemnness

will draw your spirit in

with its damp, dark

and cold tales

and selfishly hold it there

with the tenuous

grip of a viper for

a thousand years

John Tiong Chunghoo