MALAYSIAN SINET ECHOES 61: BITTERSWEET YEARNING

Excruciating pain, death is a choice;

The drugs fail to ease, agony, my voice.

My knee bloat and bulge, the earth quake and spilt;

Synovium bleeds, strangulate and hit.

Sound my wailing siren to paradise;

Repentance and forgiveness of my vice.

Resentment and regrets complicate life;

Mobility down, restlessness run rife.

Bitter truth of life, body’s wear and tear;

Sad tears dribble down knee, fresh ire aware.

Living without style, feel enough and rich;

Stays calm and cool, mind adjust to new niche.

Life is bittersweet, the divide we share;

The affair we dream, we compare the flare.

Note:

We consulted an orthopedic surgeon at Mount Alvernia MC yesterday, recommended by his colleague we saw earlier. We had a frank and long discussion about my medical condition. The complication was rare. In his long practice of two decades in his speciality, I was the first patient he encountered with such a problem. The explanation removes some of my grudges and misunderstanding.

In the interval, I read several books, listen to many You tube over wide topic. I, thereby, summarize all I have read into the above sonnet.

The pictures of books were copied pasted from the web. I have read them with appreciation to the authors Their books give me a different perspective to life. I have added two food pictures: Nasi Lemak (coconut milk added to rice, with flower petals), a Malaysian cuisine, simple and excellent; and a well balanced Western breakfast. The oats were steel cut and boiled, a small bananas for the flavour.; plain yogurt was added to the fruits; black coffee, without sugar nor milk.

MALAYSIAN SONNET ECHOES 60:TORNADO IN A PAN

With eddies of hot and cold wind and air;

Thunderstorm whirl, whine and wreck the world bare;

If catastrophe impacts on your life;

Violence are rife, the nation in strife.

Body is diseased, mind must not fall sick;

Stay calm to watch tricks, stir is thick and quick.

Life is like a a movie, add fire and sound;

War drum out of beat, kindness not around.

Nothing I could change, the change is within;

Treatment not in skin, confidence to spin;

Confuse aches with eggs, tornadoes as true;

Sight with awesome feel, how could the cards deal.

Easy to be entangle when world spins;

Begin never to win, just grin in sync.

My Sonnet was in response to Wayne Tan’s ( a Chinese Muslim, my personal trainer) rhyme verses , as follow:

Through the chaos to remain grounded,
One must question upon which is founded,
Does the issue affect one self?
To what degree should one delve,

Life is full of enough problems to solve,
Through thick and thin we do evolve,
Focus only on what we can change,
Anything else would just be strange.

Every morning I wrote sometime to greet my friend. My daughter sent me the video of Omelette Tornardo. I added these words:

Life is like an Omelette tornado. Right or wrong, gain and loss etc sticks and curls and ends in an active or passive volcano. How do we prevent ourselves from being sucked up ?

Notes:

My cardio imaging scan , with high calcium score , about 4000, suggest I have extensive blockage in triple vessels, despite no symptoms of chest pain, breathlessness. Last week I did an angiogram at Singapore Heart Centre, which showed the blockage was about 60 %, and no stent was required. It was a great relief. I shall be doing a cardiac perfusion test , instead of a stress test due to my age. I am uncertain whether the orthopedic surgeon here would be willing to resect my stranded synovium, which not only limited my movement completely, but caused intense pain. Now the pain has subsided over complete bed rest for two weeks.

The pictures here were copied-pasted from the web, with appreciation to their owners.

LYRICAL POEM: THE HORIZON ( 天边)

Lyric by Gilgelang, Painter and Poet, Mongolia, China, November, 2000
Translation by Dr. LIM Keng Huat, wonkywizard, FREE VERSES

"The word lyric, and its connection to the words of a song, provides one hint about the adjective lyrical, which can mean "appropriate for singing." When a movie, book, dance, or work of art gives you the same feeling as the most beautiful music, you can also describe those things as lyrical. The musical connection goes all the way back to the Greek root word, lyra, or lyre."

Above the horizon, there's a pair of twin stars;
Those are the eyes that glitter in my dream.
A morning fog pervades around the mountains;
It's the forlorn tenderness left by you from the night.

I yearn to ascend, to climb to the peak;
To figure out the physical image of the fog.
I desire to mount, mount on a thoroughbred;
To chase the far away stars.

There is a giant tree at the end of the world;
Offers a cool green shade within my heart.
Far away, there is a tall mountain;
That represent your great and broad mindset.

I aspire to pick under that tree;
To weave a pretty nostalgic flashback.
I wish to descend, down to the foothill to graze;
Just to trace your footpaths.

I aspire to be your co-rider;
Racing through the deep grassland and hinterland.
I desire we spread our wings together;
Flying through the blue sky of the dome gorges.

天边
歌手：布仁巴雅尔

所属专辑：天边 (布仁巴雅尔特别纪念版 1960-2018)


天边有 一对双星
那是我梦中的眼睛
山中 有 一片晨雾
那是你 昨夜 的柔情
我要登上 登上山顶
去 寻觅雾中的身 影
我要跨上 跨上骏马
去 追逐遥远的星星
天边 有 一棵大树
那是我心中的绿荫
远方有 一座高山
那是你 博大的胸襟
我要树下 树下采撷
去编织美丽的憧憬
我要山 下山下放 牧
去 追寻你的 足迹
我愿 与你 策马同行
奔 驰在草原的深处
我愿与你 展翅飞翔
遨游在蓝天的 穹谷

Notes:

In the last week I was confined to my bed room, with very intense pain from hemarthrosis (bleeding into the operated knee), due to entangled synovium with my titanium, a rare post surgical complication. The orthopedic surgeon rightly asked me to treat my heart first before any open knee surgery. I have triple vessel blockage, without breathless, chest pain or discomfort. Tomorrow I shall be admitted to Singapore Heart Center for angiogram, stenting if lucky, instead of bypass operation. During rest at home, I listen to the above Chinese song, and is so impressed with the music and lyric, but I cannot catch many words sung. I searched the web for the full lyric, and found there is a video with it. I think it is worthy for readers to listen to the song or video.

The poet met his friend 30 years later at Beijing Airport. Despite the long parting, they spotted each other without problem. After the brief encounter, he composed the lyric at the basement of the airport and asked his friend to set it in music (later others in video). The song and lyric becomes so popular, and, unfortunately, rumours about the friendship also spread around. If you listen to the different versions of singing by singers, often you listen more to the sentimentality of the lyric, and not the spiritual friendship between them.

MALAYSIAN SONNET 59: SMART PARTNERSHIP

Verdant in park with varied shades and shapes;

Sculpted with strange terraces, paths and lakes.

Sat under a tall tree, on a lone seat;

A calm and cool breeze, blew away the heat.

Leaves fall and glide , graceful dances in air;

Scatter everywhere, dare to stare and care.

Lost in words and time, man lost in the scenes;

Patterns in his dreams, just all kinds of greens.

Labels are just names, neither praise nor blame;

Games watch or play, gains or stains in the brain.

Praise to ecoscape, healing path for soul;

Stroll, stretch, sit or row, from the parts to whole.

Fitness and long life, science pursue art;

They are not apart, learn smart to depart.

Note:

On a non peak visit on a weekday, my daughter drove us to McRithie Park Reservoir for rest and exercises. Longevity is always associated with exercises, but health and fitness, age group and the individual conditions are often not seriously considered. There is never a one rule for all. The isosorbide 60 mg daily, prescribed by my cardiologist, Dr. Kelvin Chua from Gleneagle Medical Center, Singapore, has helped me mentally, emotionally and physically, but my recovery is still early. The exercise tolerance has increased , but still about 2 to 3 km and required rest about 20 min interval. I admire Dr. Chua for his ability to attend to my concern or worry, without alarming me. I asked him that the Concor 2.5 mg daily had controlled my BP well, but the pulse rate often gone down to 50 beats per min. and, at times, there was a strong beat sensation. With some simple data, he assured me that the rate was safe, and he had also detected the strong pulse, perhaps an AF was ready to fire but stopped by the medication and my heart. The park is well designed, with many seats available and spaced out well. I strolled cautiously, and rested on the seats along the way. The modest hill top has easy ascending and descending slopes, and has good toilets for seniors. After a period of rest, I may need a heart angiogram and to assess whether stents are required.

MALAYSIAN SONNET 59: SMART PARTNERSHIP

MALAYSIAN SONNET NO: 58: AGE OF CATASTROPHE

The heart fibrillates, uneven and fast;

Lungs crackle , breathe tight, fluid out in a flash.

Feel less soggy, pulses even and slow;

Vasodilator add for flow and glow.

Muscles are damaged, but blood flow are spared;

The disruptions scared, functions unimpaired.

Plague narrowed lumen, flow found its way through;

Health span to aid life, by pass may pursue.

Catastrophe is normal for our age;

We enter the crisis , with change in rage.

Trapped in lethargy, sad page fail to turn;

Soul vain to return, bond is my concern.

To control uncertainty, choose and change;

It appears strange, till the system derange.

PS.

We traveled by bus to Singapore, before the Chinese New Year. Then I caught a mild flu again, but takes a long time to heal. I was very lethargic, and slept badly. The flu virus then attacked my heart, sending me in CCF with AF. I was too weak to feel Shortness of breath, or to feel the pulses were running faster than I could count. Luckily my problem was picked up by my daughter and son in law, both specialists. I was in Heart Failure, with AF. We consulted a cardiologist , Kelvin Chua, at Gleneagles, Singapore. Tests were done and treatment was quickly initiated, without admission. Though I recovered somewhat, but I had a mild lingering fever for another week, and all test revealed negative diagnosis. Though I suffered myocarditis, but there was no infarct. Though I have not healed completely, I have some energy to compose my sonnet. And to express my thanks to my cardiologists for the excellent service rendered.

MALAYSIAN SONNET ECHOES 57: FREE GLOBETROTTING

Free ride in YouTube, travel across globe;

Scenes of slump and dope, First World slides down slope.

Trillions spend on war, welfare have to wait;

Kill all who block way, lies, spies and group hate.

Mind manipulates, motto is malice;

Coerce to control, methods are callous.

Dark Psychology hides, Deep State must win;

Chaos spin the world, supreme in prime sin.

Blind eyes follow guide, free thinking is lost;

Conflict turns racial, beggar at all cost.

Prices soar to sky, steal to live in norm.

Man bomb, weather storm, rulers out of form.

Knowledge fattens fast, spirits dwarf in size;

Diaspora spill wide, greed n more guises.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 637:IN BETWEEN SPACES

floss dance before bed

declutter debris down drain

brush to remove stains

Note:

My interdigital oral irrigator break down. I bought a new flosser from the web. The box come with a poetry which was not my liking. English has multiple meaning for the same word. In life there is always a poetry for everything. As a senior, my swinging and twisting exercises are simple, and less energetic, and much easier to perform whenever free. After one brushes and water floss the teeth with tooth pastes, it is also good to floss dance a little to promote better sleep.

The cartoon above was copied-pasted from the web with appreciation to the owner. It has no commercial value for me.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 636: SOCIAL CONNECTION

stretch out to connect

seek support in trying times

strong shared survival

semi abandoned

water logged and muddy park

grace and glory gone

Note:

My granddaughter asked me about social contact. Then I found an artists with an impressive picture of Three Trees with excellent haiku . I wrote to congratulate them and wrote my first three lines , as poet to poet interaction. My submission was thrown out. Instead I insert a picture of a local girl I met in Northern Xinjiang. This morning I went to the community park here to do some exercises in big open spaces with abundant trees, and opportunity to meet some old friends. They did not turn up, due to the sad conditions of the park. I had to drag my aching knees back to my apartment unit.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 635: MORNING MUSING

night is dark and long

morning sun will break the dawn

suffering resumes

we have trod too fast

relax and wait for the soul

to catch up the speed

west has wise saying

words echo in outer space

vices ground on earth