Zen

A phrase recently heard
which surely many have too
Though simple words of zen-ism
the wisdom within is rather true!

"Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
but today is a gift.

That's why we call it the present"

[Ancient Master Oogway, 2008]

A Tall Tale

All 'bout Cambodia I've recently been writing,
There's more to go; but I'd figured that'd be boring
Gotten this poem in a mail today,
A nonsense verse; but surely would brighten up your day!

One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight.
Back-to-back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
One was blind and the other couldn't see,
So they chose a dummy for a referee.
A blind man went to see fair play,
A dumb man went to shout "hooray!"
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And rushed to save the two dead boys.
A paralyzed donkey walking by,
Kicked the copper in the eye,
Sent him through a rubber wall,
Into a dry ditch and drowned them all.
(If you don't believe this lie is true,
Ask the blind man -- he saw it too!)

[author unknown]

Holiday Haiku

Bemused before

Breathtaking beauty

Ancient Angkor

Astonished Audrey

Reflections

Over the murky waters
of the Tonle Sap rivers
I cruised beneath
the scorching heat

I heard
a little girl's cries
I searched
nothing was before my eyes

Then she appeared
in rags of red
A tattered cap
over her head

In a tin bucket
cross-legged she sat
An oar in her hand
was all she had

Her desire was
simple and clear
All she wanted
was just a dollar

From my purse
I answered her plea
To her outstreched hands
that accepted with glee

With a flick of her oar
just as she appeared from no where
She vanished into the horizon
and disappeared into thin air

I truly admire
the courage of
the little child peddlar
or rather
the red brave warrior
of Tonle Sap river

Though how choppy and filthy

the waters are
I realised
how blessed my life has been so far

If you are reading this on your screen
take a sec to reflect
how fortunate in life you have been
for what are our complaints and worries
to those whose life since birth
are burdened with miseries...

Whisperings

Up the steps of Wat Angkor

she will go

With swirling thoughts

that none but one knows

Into the cracks of the ancient walls

that is where she'll whisper them all

And fill them up with sand

For as the wind blows

her secrets will be

Brought to faraway land

The larger bits that remain

will stay embedded

Never to be brought up ever again