Yesterday I saw a woman,
big rock in her hand,
she was chasing a drunken man
who probably asked her for something
she cannot give.
He was old and his skin was wrinkly
she was young and probably
younger than me.
I wonder what I would do
if I was her, alone, at night,
would I have picked up a rock
or pull out a self-defense knife?
Or would I smile
and hope for them to go away?
t.l.
I never realized
how much her words meant to me
I yearned for her praises, her recognition
for as long as I can remember.
I wanted to make her happy
she deserved a good daughter
I can do that, just that.
her compliments speared through me
like the double-edge knife
I’ve tried to become lighter
quieter, better
I can’t live her life
and nor she mine
a dandelion seed must leave their flower
and find her own grounds
to grow.
t.l.
I learned about hard work. I also learned about consistency. I know that being a writer or a poet doesn’t necessarily mean you are always flooded with ideas and creative thoughts. That poems will flow out of your mind into the pages.
Sometimes, it takes work and determination. Sometimes, you have to think about what to say or write. Sometimes, when there is nothing to say, that’s when you push yourself the hardest.
Like I am doing now. I know that being consistent is one of the hardest thing on Earth (or the universe). Or maybe it is hard because it’s not a habit yet.
All I know is, I have to keep trying. If I want to publish a book, I should write every day. I should set a deadline and try to finish by the end of it. At least, I know I am still trying.
For all writers out there who suffered writer’s block or any procrastination, I guess, the best thing is to pick up your pen (or your laptop) and write.
t.l.
Love isn’t filled with flowers
and nice dinners
Love isn’t butterflies
or “I love you” over
and over again.
Love is pain
love is when you chest is
about to explode and
you want to disappear
forever.
But you stay
you stay with her
until the very end.
t.l.
I’ve learned a great deal about hard work. Everyone keeps telling everyone else, yes, a dream won’t happen unless you do it. Unless you put 10,000 hours into becoming an expert.
There are quotes, memes, section from books that always told me to “try harder”. I’ve read news about real people spending 18-20 hours a day working. And they had it: the fame, the money, the title. But is it worth it?
Colin Powell once said, “A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”
So everyone else must do the same (in order to be successful).
However, work is not everything. Yes, I agree we should work hard. I agree that every day when we wake up until we go to sleep, you should have worked on something. But it doesn’t have to be all about your job.
You could have worked on perfecting your speeches in front of people.
You could have worked on your anger issues.
You could have worked on loving yourself and others.
You could have worked on exercising and getting fit.
You could have worked on searching for what you really love.
You could have worked on how to live, to the fullest.
I heard stories of a 22 year old student who didn’t sleep for a week straight to finish his dissertation and then unfortunately, he passed away and missed his own graduation ceremony.
I’ve read from books that people are working their asses off without time to even go to the hospital when they’re sick. At the end of the day, you may sit on mountains of cash without the health to spend it.
So yes, work hard. But also love hard. Play hard. Enjoy life harder.
For a day, you can let go of work for a second and take a walk with your loved ones (including fluffy ones), fill your lungs with fresh air. Look at the sky. It is still blue. The wind is still blowing. The flowers are still blooming.
And you are still living. And that’s your gift. Embrace that.
t.l.
We all know how masculine you must feel
when you peel her eyes out and eat it raw
you were her mother’s lover
I think you’re a hungry predator
What goes on her mind
when she lies underneath you
you thought if you could spread her legs open
she would surrender
So you cut out her tongue
keep her quiet, gave her a phone
to call you when her mum is tired
you think you own her, don’t you?
the girls don’t belong to you
neither the ones walk alone at night
nor the one who is your lover’s child
as long as their heart still beats, they will fight
the bruises kept her stronger
the pain made her the fastest antelope
she bite into your words
and become a survivor.
t.l.
(these men need to stop)
I Care A Lot is a new movie starring Rosamund Pike (if you enjoyed watching her in Gone Girl, you will love her acting in this one too). The movie is captivating, fast paced and cinematically beautiful.
What I love about this movie is that it brings a new angle to con artists. We have seen plenty of intelligent con artists in movies that are too amazing to dislike. In fact, the bad guys can be good if they’re too good at their jobs.
You won’t forget liking and supporting the Fast & Furious or Ocean’s 8 gangs who do carefully-planned out, dangerous heists; or the magicians who fooled people with their amazing tricks in Now You See Me; or the infamous impostor, check forger “DiCaprio” in Catch Me If You Can.
To tell the truth, there is bad in everyone and we love to see that bad people can get away with stealing, tricking, (even killing) and outsmarting the cops. Or maybe we love it because it is so far from our daily life. We don’t normally deal with all the fast cars, the amazing performing magic and the genius thief in our daily life. And more importantly, they are not stealing from us.
In “I Care A Lot”, this predatory-smiling woman who claimed she takes care of old people but instead she takes advantage of them. Many people are feeling uncomfortable while watching Pike getting away with “stealing money and assets” from her elderly wards. It’s partly because we see that or experience that ourselves.
These so-called guardians target helpless old people and make money off of them. We probably encountered a few scams here and there, online scams, email, phone, or even from people we thought were close to us! And that makes us angry. We want people like Pike to get arrested, to pay her due. We empathize with the old, defenseless lady but then found down she is not one to mess with.
Now it’s the mafia against the so-called con woman. The frustration is that the police is on her side, the court is on her side, the people are “mostly” on her side. She didn’t buy them up with money, but with a smile. She told people “it’s my job to take care of them” and so people believe her.
She can walk out in day light while selling other people’s houses and keeping the money for herself. Not the mafia. Not those thieves we saw in other heist movies. She dresses well, and she makes sure that her teeth is nice too. Because without her “fake” smile, she can’t fool anyone.
I won’t be spoiling the endings here but I guess the director wants to show us that karma does come around. Some viewers are happy with the ending but for once, I think that people like Pike turned out to be the richest, most successful and well-respected members of the society.
People like Pike talk about good will, about being nice to the community, about taking care for others. Maybe they even publish a book about it. They are all around us. We just have to be wiser in making our own judgement when we see one.
My ratings: 8/10
t.l.
I recently read this book called “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon. Thank you, my beautiful girlfriend, for giving me this amazing gift.
There were a few things Austin Kleon said that I never knew before. Or maybe I know but never had the heart to admit it.
Kleon spoke about how important it is to show what you’re working on. People are interested in the process of the actual doing as well as the end results. And you don’t have to be an expert in those areas to broadcast what you do.
I guess for someone who suffers from intellectual self-doubt, who thinks that everything I do isn’t good enough; this book really comes around. I still question it every day, that if I’m not good, who would want to see my work or hear what I have to say. I’d rather keep it to myself than to show it and receive negative feedbacks.
I started playing the piano when I was about 5 years old. It was hard but exciting at the same time. Mind you, I was not a natural, “born to play” pianist who can play every classic song in the book. In fact, I normally took a longer time to perfect a piece compared to others. But I loved it. Because after all the hard work, I know I can do it in the end.
I remembered at one point, I told my parents I wanted to play music for a living. They were surprised and I guess a little bit taken back. For Asian parents, it is not okay to want to earn money from playing an instruments. At age 10, my parents told me to quit because they wanted me to focus more on academic school work.
I used to regret not being able to learn more and play the piano for 10 years. However, I picked it up again and now I have a chance to be better at it.
I will have to learn that it’s okay to constantly be learning. It’s okay to be an amateur at something. And it’s okay to let people see your weakness and see how you’ve grown.
So I will keep telling myself to learn more, play music more, read more, write more, and to know that this is living.
My recent original piano piece: https://soundcloud.com/tammy-ple/moon-piano-original
t.l.
I know what you’re thinking
you tried to be happy
you think you can trick your mind
but your whole body is shivering
from lying
you can feel it coming
those sad waves
like a tsunami
the birds flew away
so why aren’t you
taking shelter if your wings are broken
smiling and pretending
that you’re not indeed drowning
I’d rather learn how to swim
maybe I can teach you too.
t.l.
(a conversation with myself)
Take it slow
you’ll find the way
your own way.
You can ask yourself a million questions
“Why am I not successful?”
“How can I not hold a job for long?”
You get jealous of people who achieved their goals
Of writers, of musicians
Now knowing they have spent thousands of hours
working.
All you have to do
is to do little every day
to write every day
play music every day
read a little every day
love yourself every day.
t.l
Tsunami of Words 