Penang Revisited
Forty two years and I've finally returned
back on the shores of the place I've long yearned.
So what pains of time have corrupted my dream,
where are the things that my memory has seen.
A mixture of people with one common cause
to nurture the freedom once lost in the wars.
To honour the past, but to live for today
and learn from life's struggles as they pass their way.
Penang now has altered, it grown with the times,
with modern and ancient now both intertwined.
Hawkers and Restaurants, Street Stalls and Malls,
the old and the new both now trading as pals.
I miss the old memories, warped now with time
as I now look at skyscrapers all in a line.
I long for the time when life passed by so slow
and wish it was all like I once used to know.
But people deserve all that life has to give
and the past only points to the way we should live.
With pleasure and comfort for all to enjoy
and not simply reserved as a millionaire's toy.
Penang has not altered, it's stayed just the same
with modernization relieving some pain.
It's beaches and gardens still open to all
let's hope that it's commerce is not it's downfall.
Penang's grown so quickly, compared to the rest
that it's old worldly culture is being compressed.
Whilst tourism flourishes, hotels take space,
let's hope that it's culture's not lost in the race.
So what now my feelings some forty years on
of this 'Pearl of the Orient' where life was such fun.
I still feel the warmth of Penang in my heart,
for in who I am now... Penang played the best part.
Ivor G Davies
Copyright © Ivor Davies | Year Posted 2015
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