You cannot tame me
a wild coyote
can never forget
how to howl at the Moon.
You cannot change me
put me in a glasshouse
dye me in different colour
I’d still bloom
with pride and honour.
You cannot get to me
my home is my body
I only believe in what I see
not what you gave me.
You can put me in a cage
give me nowhere to run
take me out of my elements
I’d grow legs out of the water.
Push me down from the highest cliff
and I’d learn to spread my wings wider.
t.l.
in order to fly away
we first need to stop
being afraid of falling.
t.l.
sometimes we wish to be birds
to fly away, to be free
to find “the one” who holds the key
the one that mates for eternity.
but the minute we’re not happy
we’ll walk right through the door
finding other birds we deem more worthy
the greedy ones always ask for more.
t.l.
a tiny tree asked,
why do we suffer all the time?
those trees up the hill,
they didn’t have to deal
with these massive landslides
the big tree replied,
there will always be storms
we were born to protect others
some might call us ‘home’
that’s why you grow stronger
dig your toes under
stand tall and face
even the worst weather
in the end,
nothing, no matter how strong,
can move you.
t.l.
Walked through a devastated forest
She saw a wooden house on the hill
There’s no place to rest
No toxic lover to kill.
Only books that said
“You are not allowed to feel”
“Don’t open it. Danger ahead”
She wanted to continue
But her will hangs by a thread.
Opened the dusty wooden trunk
She found a perfect suit and tie
The one she’s hidden all these years
She walked this earth so quietly
So no one would hear.
She’s denied her own existence
A lawyer who deemed herself unworthy
She now learned the true lesson
that love doesn’t need approval from anybody.
t.l.
Inspired by ‘Notes of the Hypnotist’ by Gao Ming.
a mother sparrow
fluttered its wings
to fly past the ferocious storm.
her children
shrieked with exhaustion
their nest drowned in water.
the little bird
scavenged for human’s leftover
fatigued and famished
her vision are blurred.
she made it home
fed her famished babies
they asked, “why do we
have to live in the city?”
because we’re the house sparrows
the best kind of architecture
runs deep in our blood.
these sheds are our homes
she said, as she covered them
with her wet, waxy feather.
look outside,
the street lights are changing
as long as you still got your wings
you’ll survive anything.
t.l.
if the city birds can live through the storm, so can you.
I carry poison inside my shell
like a beautiful cone snail
attract my prey and
send them straight to hell
I keep it to myself
underneath the sea
I only come out
when the attacker
is on their knees
yes, I’m only tiny
beautiful and deadly
put me on your neck
wrap me around your wrist
I’ll always fight back
with all the venom that I have.
t.l.
Sick kitty
Couldn’t tell me
She was hungry
Or sad
Or thirsty
Or mad
Sick kitty
Couldn’t take herself
To the hospital
Couldn’t dig a hole
Couldn’t move
For the past hour
Sick kitty
The moment you get better
You eat like there’s no tomorrow
Like it’s the last meal
So you’d be full
In the next world
Sick kitty
She’s not so sick now
But every time she lays still
I was afraid she has gone
Somehow.
t.l.
There’s a void in my mind
absent, apathetic and hazy
all the creative thoughts
have escaped me, swirling like
rainy clouds unable to fall down.
There’s a stillness all around
like a humid summer day
marigold seeds hide underground
and cicadas refuse to sing until May.
The tranquility of this body
I called home
nothing is moving
nothing is going in or out
just existing day by day
as long as I say
“everything is okay”.
t.l.
Story of a little girl, eaten alive by a tiger
Not because she was scared
But she heard the tiger cried and went in anyway, knowing the danger that awaits
If she was a flower, she would be the queen of them all, she just doesn’t see it
Beautiful but melancholy, she said “don’t touch my thorns unless I let you”
Her last petal fell, it said “somebody loved you”
Bled to death but she finally felt whole
She’s the type of girl who would cry herself to sleep, every night
Exploded into nothingness, she shot across the sky at the speed of light, hoping this will be the last time she stayed alive
Wild Oxeye Daisy, even in the darkest storm, you rise
But you let them step all over you, didn’t you?
t.l.
Tsunami of Words 