Remembering Altantuyaa Shaariibuu

I am the Golden Beam*, from
The land of steppes, come to
The South Seas to Malaysia
called the Mountains of Asia

‘Twas no Shambula as promised
But of evil Gehanna, sent there
By C-4, 1.34 times more powerful
Than C6H2(NO2)3CH3, or TNT

In that shattering blast, in a tick
Golden Beam* I was no more
But thousands shattered shards
Of tears, blood, and deep regrets

Never to see my children again
Where I am I have met Erlig Qan
But I am not yet ready to submit
To his reign until I taste justice

Oh, if only I can quench my thirst
To drink sweet requital, my due
Against unimaginable evil cruelty
Just a wee sip from across the Styx

Will the Heavens sense my sorrow
My wail of uncompromising pain
At the loss of not just my young life
But treasured sight of loved ones

O, Sulde Tngri, Dayicin Tngri and
Gesar Khan, I offer thee, Holy Triad
Votive arca or juniper branches &
Berries, & kuji the sweetest incense

I pray, let they who judge be brave
Resolute and just, and not render
My tormented soul to wander in
Perpetual odyssey, sans retribution

I yearn to return home soon to rest
Among the elm-trees and willows
To hear the larks trill their sweet
Songs over the endless steppes

Please, let me gaze once more at the
White snow cap of Nayramadlin Orgil
Then I'll know I'm home once again
To close my tired eyes as Golden Beam*


* Altantuyaa = Golden Beam

Surrender

Out of the ether came a voice
No, no, not god – who’s he?
But a gentle sound, chiming
Softly like silvery moonbeams

I paused to catch its cheery notes
Too late, realising what I’ve done
Allowing myself to fall prey as
A net of sweetness fell over me

Trapped like a fly in a spider’s web
I struggled valiantly but in vain
Praying for my soul to be set free
But waiting for it to be consumed

By strange passion unexplained
& born in the ether, inexplicably
Wonderful yet inevitably doomed
I surrender to the Tao of its power

A Rotten Day

‘Twas really a rotten day
When all things went wrong
And you needed lots of hugs
A comforting word of love

Rank, name, serial number
The guard barked at me

So I trotted down to the bar
For some chilled chardonney
Something to warm you by
Till your blues were gone

Bartender said, we’re closed

Please come back tomorrow

Then you searched for a friend
To speak to a familiar face
Enjoy an amicable word or two
Perhaps a whiskey or beer

Sorry mate, not in right now
Am on a hot, really hot date

When you couldn't get someone
To share your day’s burden with
You turned to old faithful, your dog
Always waiting for you at home

But it’s full moon, he’s on the prowl
He has his own life too, grrrrowl

The Witch of Ijok

Burn her burn her, kill
The evil witch of ijok
Drown her in the pond
Of the village in Ijok
She’s evil, evil, evil
Responsible for all
Bad happenings, yes
The damn witch of Ijok

Sun rises in east, sets
In west, thro’ her spells
Tides and tidal waves
Are just her evil deeds
Bad news in Utusan?
Or the NST & The Star
Even in malaysiakini
May be attributed to her

Earth rotates anticlockwise
Is just work of her sorcery
But the Chilean says I see
Earth spinning clockwise
Precisely, she has placed
A hex on thee, all her fault
But her greatest sin was
To do the blasphemous

To question, blame, sneer
At the one & most holy Grail,
The one with the pious wail
Four face Almighty Brahma
Hi to my dear buddy Paul
Assalaimu Alaikum yaa akhi
wo men dou shi yi jia ren
demi bangsa, bangsa & bangsa

Magic of her laughter

Hahahahaha

Just laughter
Of happiness
Or at humour
Perhaps sheer relief?
Maybe even to
Disguise, yes,
Embarrassment
Even all of these

That’s what
Laughter is about
But somehow
Coming from her
It’s different
With added
Sapid spices
Intoxicatingly exotic

Crystal clear ripples
Enchanting peals
Of pentatonic
Wind chimes
Whispering
Seductively
Soothing storms
Into tranquillity

They bring
Penang Hill
Alive with music
(sorry Julie Andrews)
A rhapsody
More enticing than
Nepenthes-lined
Murmuring brooks

Resonations
Sweeter than
Gula melaka
As gentle as
Moonbeams
More charming
Than Penang
Nyonyas giggling

Just two letters
In plain 2-D
She unconsciously
Synergises and
Amplifies its magic
To the n-th power
Divine ambrosial
Tintinnabulation

I lay my head down
On the soft dreamy H
And pull up a cool
Silken blanket of A’s
Wrapped up totally
In their warmth
I dream of her
Cascading sweet laughter

Hahahahaha

Ijok - where bloggers were at sea?

I sail into a storm
Where the Ijok sea
In anger waxes
Tempestuously
Roiling
Raging
Roaring
A vortex of avarice

‘Tis a sea swarming
With predators in
Chauffeured Mercedes
Baring beguiling
Smiling
Sinister
Sharp
Baleful razor teeth

Another ship appears
On the evening horizon
And soon draws near
There on the deck
She
Smiles
Sweetly
I imagine to me

While the predators
Lull, lure and lie
Without conscience
To the prey, ikan bilis
Brown
Black
Buff
All victims of deceit

I shout out to her
Watch out for the
Pelagic candirú
Lampreys of votes
She
Signals
Silently
All lies have been posted

Soon one predator remains
Having vanquished the other
Leaving whitebaits to swim
Around 200 Janome's, so
Eighty-%
Equivocating
Employment-deficient
Sweethearts exit Ijok

And our two ships pass
Each other as night casts
A dark curtain over us
I realise sadly she’s
Gone
Godspeed
Goodbye
Will it be forever?

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."

- William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

What’s in a name?

A rose is still … but alas,
I’m not one, but a thorn
Prickly or some'd say
Just a damn prick ;-)

A prickly thorn?

Protect the fragile rose
Or, just to prick
Bubbles of euphoria
POP! Who’s that prick?

Who art thou?

Maybe a loose cannon
Or a silly Don Quixote
Tilting at spinning icons
Or icon who spins

Out, damn'd KTemoc! out, I say!

I cringe, it’s an angry world
In Ijok, and like a Dalmatian
Left, no longer barking
At dark shadows, meow!

Ijok - Of, For, & By The Fairest

I was Darth Vader yesterday
But now I am Luke Skywalker
Tho’ tomorrow, you’ll see me
As I ought to be, the Emperor

Activist in a forgotten history
Then Minister of Parachuting
Yes, I can metamaphose easily
From black, white to anything

Catch me if you can, I am the
Entertainer of the salacious,
Then like a flash of lightning
Becoming Mufti of all pious

My syrupy honey tongue, ten
Metres long – all the better
To catch you common lalat’s
With words sweet and tender

Of many hue, size and shape
Yes, I am indeed a chameleon
Breaking bread with an Islamist
Or bosom buddy of a neocon

Once I wallowed in a cesspool
'ere I was driven out by a tiger
Now I am your white Paladin
Not many can detect my odour

Like a mischievous Eris I flung
Into the anagrammatic KOJI
A Mongolian apple of discord
Which says Altan .. Kallisti

A word meaning ‘to the fairest’
Why, that’s me, aku, I, wah
Sweet words, all ye lemmings,
For your Most Majesty, Moi

Note: lalat = Malay for houseflies

Magic of the 100th name of God

Once
I had a hundred names
with only 99 known.
Trust Isis and her wiles,
yes, a woman
and a lovely one too,
to pry the 100th out of me.
Devious!

Amazed!
I now have a new one but
minus an 'L' as if that
would mean someone else,
like Odin, Manitou, Zeus,
rather than ole me, you
know who, don't you?
Moi

Hey
I call out to them, they
in the red and blue corners.
The names' the same, it's all mine
of course, whose did you think?
Butt out, sneered one;
Yes, the other concurred;
Scat!

Huh?
But they're all mine, those
names you're fighting over.
So what, did you patent them
like mapped gerome of langsat
and petai for exclusive use?
No? Then, buzz off!
Goodbye

But
Why fight over my names
when I am the same Bloke
for all of you guys and gals?
Hellooooo, didn't we say
to butt out of our turf wars,
on exclusive use of THE name.
Understand?

Isis!
Only she knew my 100th name
that bestows the most powerful
magic on those who know.
She was privy to my secret (100th)
name called Compassion, sometimes
known as, would you believe,
Love!

Related - Malaysiakini letters:
(1) Others using ‘Allah’ will confuse Muslims
(2) Allah, Tuhan, Lord and God

Ode to fallen but unwanted heroes

The Japanese had long since gone,
their bayonets are no longer drawn;
The long fought bitter war was won
but sadly not for those truly fallen

From the holes emerged ethnic heroes
who had stayed still while others died,
to shamelessly rob victory from others
whose real sacrifices are now denied

Eliminate any hero’s deeds and name,
erase their service from our memory;
don't remind the bigots of their shame,
their absence in defending our country

Smash to smithereens their memorial
New ‘heroes’ need the broken bricks
to build their ethnic wira credential,
complete with keris, hornets & tricks

Omar Khayyam & Kari Perut Ikan

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness -
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

- Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam I am not, but when
mum cooked delicious kari perut ikan,
I dashed to the village bakery to buy
a loaf of bread for jolly good makan

There were long beans, fresh pineapple,
daun limau purut, & purple aubergine,
pickled fish roe and stuff best not told;
that last part, it’s better to just imagine

Then mum added fresh shelled shrimps
to the curry for extra marvellous taste;
I dipped my crusty roti into the mélange
to scoop and eat all, there was no waste

I sat beneath the bough of a belimbing
tree, to tuck away a feast just wondrous,
but without a flask of wine or singing,
and I have no time for a book of verse

Mum chose jasmine rice, and sis bihun,
but all with helpings of kari perut ikan;
It’s Siamese style cuisine, hot and spicy
pepper-ish curry, healthily sans santan

And you may ask why I didn’t include
you, my sayang, the one called ‘Thou’;
I couldn’t 'cause Paradise’d be absent
when the curry for me was not enow

What is tom yum kai or shark fin soup,
soup kambing or even chicken wantan;
all these are but nothing when compared
to mum’s incomparable kari perut ikan

Oh, by the way, have you even guessed yet
that secret ingredient of my mother’s curry
If you still haven’t got it, hold tight to your
seat, cause it’s yummy pickled fish tummy

Memories of kampong sounds

The singing of the bullfrogs
throughout the humid night
told us it would not be long
before rain gave cool delight









The humming of the cicadas
pulsed in chirring monotone,
serenading an evening stroller,
suddenly silence, he's all alone

Long before dawn, I awoke
to a rooster's loud crowing;
once, twice, thrice, then the
sparrows started twittering

But now I hear those sounds
only vaguely in my memory,
while I am blasted daily with
noises, discordant, incessantly,

of car horns and roaring bikes,
harsh pounding and clanging
of piling hammers, & strato-
blasters of motorcars passing









Oh, of black-naped orioles,
what would I give to hear
their sweet warbling again,
‘ere they too soon disappear

No footprint in the sand

I was all alone on the beach
strolling towards the red sun
lying on the western horizon;
T’was when night had begun.

Every step I took on the wave
beaten beach, the silver sand
rose up between my wet toes,
and thus leaving on the land

my footprints of the evening,
till the murmuring waves swept
away the tracks I made, leaving
no memory of where I stepped.

Years later I went to that beach.
To hear the waves roar cheekily:
‘Ah, you’re back’, hinting again
I'd leave no footprint as memory.

Where are the dragonflies?

Eons ago, by the village pond
I saw wonderful flitting things,
& recall delightful memories of
miracles with gossamer wings

I saw one of deep turquoise blue
hovering over the leaf of a lotus,
while another of orangey colour
rested on the violet convolvulus

Darting there, then hovering here,
creating rainbows in the sunlight
wherever they flew, continuing so
till daylight gave way to the night

I wonder where are the dragonflies,
after they've turned the village pond
into a filthy junk pit, devoid of water,
blooms, blue morning glory or frond

49th Merdeka

What a day!
Enjoy, rejoice
Be safe out there

Look to the left
at your neighbours
Go, hold their hands

Look to the right
It's the forgotten
Help pick them up

Look right around
at those left behind
Do take them along

What a day!
Enjoy, rejoice,
Best if together

Children of Qana

Lying still in Qana's mud
of dust mixed with blood,
children broken in bodies,
mums wrecked in miseries

Death came from the sky
to maim, kill, & destroy,
from hearts full of hate,
minds of evil incarnate

Among bloodied debris,
pierced young bodies
by Death's burnished steel
of cruel sharp shrapnel

But streaks of blood mar
its blue six-pointed star;
Turn Death the other way
to see it say Made in USA

Tremble - Last Communist Cometh!

The Daily News screamed:
Ye all tremble for he is here!
Who, who? We all shivered;
Who should we truly fear?

He, the evil Last Communist,
a danger to society, our bane.
What? That trembling old man,
the one with the walking cane?

Chap Goh Meh

Arising from the distant sea,
She casts her silvery beams
on us all below, and the sea
smiles back at her, it seems;

one bright eye, high above,
with her glow bathing us all,
the other eye floating on the
sea as the waves rise and fall;

the girl casts a golden orange,
to the moon goddess in the sea;
praying for Her kind blessing
to grant her blessed matrimony.

Tonight is when yin and yang
are in perfect sweet harmony,
to bring a good man and good
woman together in joyous unity.

Siapa Raja!

Don’t ever question, ya, me,
Limpeh, arm pai, aku, Saya.
Lu tremblingly bow to Wah,
don’t ever forget siapa Raja!

Aku puan & tuan, kau hamba
but with sexy voluptuous bum;
question not my lustful grope
because I want badly to cum!

Leer, ogle, probe, slap, grope
are but my usual lustful way;
what I, thy tuan choose to do,
you just have no f**king say!

Kau boleh protest, plead, cry.
They but fall on wax-filled ears
of your selected wakil raykat
for 5 more f**king long years.

Proudly Beneath Sang Saka Biru

yes, down, up, down, up, down
and hang on to both your ears,
do continue till something falls
out, but not counting your tears

wriggle your bare hips gently
and swing your breasts to & fro,
then turn around for the video
remember to smile & say hello

we are nothing less than the law,
so don't fret or blush my li'l dear,
it's our tradition that you be nude
we want to know when all's clear

we are here to serve and protect
proudly beneath Sang Saka Biru,
yes, we serve our own interests
and protect our own people too