Life's Rollercoaster

A teacher once told me
that the ups and downs in life
are just like a rollercoaster track.
A good analogy I thought at the time.
Each emotional skyward surge
bound to an inevitable fall.
By now I've ridden plenty of coasters,
risen and fallen, again and again,
I always know the ride will end
and bring me back to safety.

But never before have I seen
one of life's steep descents.
A ride into the dark, into the unknown;
Always a journey with no end in sight,
a headlong rush along a perilous track.
Never before have I slept assured
knowing misery will end.
It's more than just a simple set
of wheels on rigid tracks.

Big Adventures

“Hey, lets go!” she screams,

her tiny figure beckoning.

Her hand is rested on her hip,

her eyes look of boredom, gleam of impatience.

She can hardly stand and wait.

“Okay,” he yells back

with a hint of seeming reluctance,

but I can see the shine in his eyes,

the skip in his small strides.

He drops the ball, and sweeps off his mitt.

“We’re going climbing.”

I, too, remember a time

When knotted trunks were scaled,

hills were conquered, and trails were blazed;

When the adventurer spirit

still surged through my veins.

When I used to run into the distance,

searching for big adventures.

The Rott

He growls, he snarls,

leaps and twists and fights.

He’s from the streets,

and that’s his nature.

He’s got a jaw that bites

with a trapping, steel force

and a strong broad build;

he’s all muscle.

Look at his ragged fire-eyes;

he’s got nothing to lose.

Pulling on the leash

with a strength unyielding.

“He’s not one for captivity,”

they think, they say.

I remind myself,

“Be patient.”

Forgive Me

He carries to her,

a gift of promised love

to rebuild the bridge

from his heart to hers.

But he worries unnecessarily.

You see, her doubts

were long forgotten,

washed away in tears

of muddled affection

days ago.

And such is

the story of Love.

Reminiscing

Love’s lost and gone,

departed with the last rays

of the setting sun.

In a fleeting moment,

burning red lust disappears,

left behind is a murky dusk,

then a cold dark.

A lukewarm kiss on the cheek,

only a dying imprint

of the warmth it used to be.

Fond memories carry tears,

and unpleasant memories, anger.

My world is changed, forever—

With the rising sun, a fresh day

has dawned upon my soul,

A new beginning.

And now, when I read your letter,

your first profession of love

to me, I can only smile.

For it invokes memories of

our childish puppy-love fun

of yesterday,

forever close to my heart.

As Seen Through My Eyes

With each turn of the lens

my camera eye changes,

Sometimes I see the trees afar,

Looking out from my flowery meadow

Sometimes I see the bright red petals

Inches from my eye.

I stand at the base of

Great monuments that soar into the sky

New buildings, of glass and polished steel,

Ancient shrines, of weathered and crumbling stone,

All radiating a glorious magnificence,

Looking up, I always feel so small.

Then there are the landscapes,

Earth’s beauties, stretched into the horizon:

Fine desert sands, rippling like waves with the wind,

Forests of gold pierced by silver rays of light,

Lively jungles, where the unseen roars loudest,

And arctic lands frozen in serenity, ever-alluring.

Far away places, cultures of the past,

The essence of history captured in photographs.

From the merchant-ruled city on water,

To the imperial forbidden city of the east.

Hidden communities, nostalgic shore-side towns

And warrior-ruled Saharan plains.

The camera is an extension of my eye,

One that opens up the creative soul.

Parting a path into the artistic world,

my mind’s imagination,

Of beauties never seen, never heard,

Never before experienced.