"FOUR WALLS" - growing old with Singapore's first HDB satellite town

These four walls
have seen me grow
from toddler to adult.
This concrete cubicle
with others identical
give shelter
to family
upon family
stacked up
in matrices
ten by ten
a hundred of them
side by side.

Twenty years
have left marks
that coats of paint
could never hide.
Yet life writes on
the same old
down to earth script
on yellowed paper
as we shuttle daily
in and out
our little homes
acting out
our little lives
like bees
in concrete hives.

So interwoven
yet independent
our lives unfold
our little stories
get retold
from door to door
laughter bounces
from pillar to pillar
anger echoes
from floor to floor
and sorrow seeps
through hollow walls
as children grow
and parents
become old.

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"RIVER" - oblivious as it swept through a sleepy city down under

The river plodded along with me
like a condescending old queen
I threw at her mental stones
hating her so calm and serene

Something screamed in me
and struggled to be free
that wild conflict that cried
searched and clawed inside

The river swept on unperturbed
ignored my mad disquiet
flowed on by me undisturbed
and mocked my mental riot

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