I am ME.

I come this far
..the journey
I shall go further
..the story

In the lifetime
..i saw
The changing time
..i see

The pain of youth
..i felt
The warmth of love
..i feel

In a person
..i have loved
As a person
..i can love

I was I
..before I learnt
I am me
..now that I learn.

si tenggang's homecoming.

si tenggang's homecoming by Muhammad Haji Salleh.

i

the physical journey that i traverse
is the journey of the soul,
transport of the self from a fatherland
to a country collected by sight and mind.
the knowledge the sweats from it
is estranger's experience,
from one who had learnt to see, reflect
and choose between
the challenging actualities.

ii

its true i have growled at my mother and
grandmother,
but only after having told them my predicament
that they have never brought to consideration
the wife that i began to love in my loneliness,
in the country that alienated me,
they enveloped in their pre-judgement.
i have not entirely returned, i know,
having been changed by time and place.
coarsed by problems
estranged by absence.

iii

but look.
i have brought myself home,
seasoned by faith.
broadened by land and language,
i am no longer afraid of the oceans
of the difeerences between people,
no longer easily snared
no words of ideas

the journey was a loyal teacher,
who was never tardy
in explaning cultures and variousness.
look i am just like you.
still malay,
sensitive to what
i believe is good,
and more ready to understand

than my brothers.
the contents of these boats are yours too,
because i have returned.

iv

travel makes me
a seeker who does not take
what is given without sincerity
or that which demands payment from
beliefs.
the years at sea and in coastal state
have thought me to choose,
to accept only those tested by
comparison,
or that which matches the roads of my
ancestors,
which returns me to my village
and its comppleteness.

v

i've leanrt
the ways of the rude,
to hold actuality in a new logic,
debate with hard and loud facts.
but i too
have humanity, respecting
man and life.

vi

i am not a new man,
not very different
from you;
the people and cities
of coastal ports
thought me not to brood
over a foreign world,
suffer difficulties
or fear possibilities.

i am you,
freed from the village,
its soils and ways,
independent, because
i have found myself.

Malaysia Our Beloved Motherland.

The struggle of the people
…is the struggle of freedom
Of one desire.

The beginning of country
..is the beginning of inspiration
Of one soul.

The growth of nation
Is the growth of determination
Of one mind

The beauty of Malaysia
Is the beauty of its people
Of one destiny.

Inspired by my wife.

Robert Lau 22nd. June 2007

Father's Day Poetry

Father’s Day Poetry.


..to the rest of
you.


In your bloodied name… you start war.
In your bloodied
hand…. you kill.

How can you show your children?
And tell….papa
knows best.
How can you hold your children?
And say …papa loves you.

How in your bloodied name you proclaim
……….in the name of God.
How in your bloodied hand you point
……….in the hands of God.

The
very existence of mankind you hold
..to tell the world you have to…
The very fabric of decency you sold
..to tell your children you
ought to..

That’s Happy Father’s Day to you
That’s for the world to
see
I am a father…..so are you
I hope to change the world….so can you.

Robert Lau 17th.June 2007

Mother's song. The Poetry

.......to all mothers on this very special occasion.

The gift we bought..
...............for the services rendered.
The sweet words of endearment..
...............for the mothering tendered.

We never ever heard..
our mother sings..........
If you don't know me by now....

We love our children..
....told their mother the same.
but...for the mothering showered.

She hums...If you don't know me by now......

Ma, now I understands
that.. in the silence you cried..
...........If you don't know me by now.....

that's what kept you going..
that's what kept us strong.

My wife.......in the silence you shout..
..........If you don't know me by now....
I never knew you..........that's true..

All mother ever want is..that we knew..
Today, in that silence..we finally heard.

For all those years that I didn't....
Ma, I am so very sorry.

Mother, the world over.....
.....we finally heard the song you sung..
time immemorial.....
If you don't know me by now....




Inspired by my wife, Sammantha.

Robert Lau

32 balloons that flew to heaven . The Poetry

to parents, kins and friends...........

We can' t feel the pain...................
but....we understand your grieves .
I can feel the loss............
..........and ...the world mourn with you .

For among ,
some of them may make a difference.....
.....that change the way the world is..
For now ,
all of you have touch the world.....
....the way we hold dear to...
..those moments precious and true.

sons and daughters of Virginia Tech.
strive hard to make the difference....
......that cut above.....

So that the parents of those children..
..can proudly say that.... once..
..they were children of Virginia Tech. ..
...of the 32 balloons that flew to heaven.


Robert Lau.