the sweet you gave

the sweet you gave
pushes me to ask
why you coat your words -
those rhythms of your tongue -
with sugar.

knowing how life teases
the sour of my blistering mouth
I welcome your sweet intrusion
so deliciously wrapped.



making harmony

he sits and drinks his coffee, black, no sugar
the other guy sits and drinks his tea, white, 1 sugar:
no dialogue between them save the sips
coffee/tea, tea/coffee, coffee/tea, tea/coffee...

i watch from a distance, safe with my coke
realise that drinks alone dont solve problems
maybe these words, these realisations might...

who knows what our next drinks might be
when harmony across gaps prevails through rhyme
and in time makes possible living peacefully.



colours/blinds

my daughters say kids are colourblind
that it is we the adults who change our kids
and make them see red, blue, yellow, white....

i no longer argue, knowing how right they are
these young whose beautiful innocence we colour
giving them myths and legends to frighten
their discovery of truth, of blood, of oneness.


birds on a tree

like birds on a tree
we perch and sit and try to sing
we don't have feathers
no plumes for us who with flesh and blood
reach out to touch the stars and fail.

like birds on a tree
we perch and sit and try to sing
our chorus of mangled melodies
our sorrows of guilt and pain
hiding beneath the shades of our own making.

like birds on a tree
we perch and sit and try to sing
longing for wings to fly
knowing how many will die
living in sin, guilt and unfathomed grief.

like birds on a tree
we will never reach the ground beneath our feet.

- -kirpal singh, singapore