Sleep shook my shoulder
I ignored her as long as I could
Inside my dream I was fascinating
People wanted my opinion
I was revered and esteemed
Not royalty, but treated like one
Sleep threw me into the mattress
I woke up gasping, struggling to understand
It felt like a meteorite had hit my chest
My breath was expelling at a rapid rate
My dream was dissipating
Sleep was satisfied
Harsh sound of the alarm clock
No one wanted my opinion this morning
I am invisible here
An old dried-up woman
No one hears or sees
Poise
Cheers voice
In fond choice
Past
At last
Now greets cast
Feel
Grand deal
Words that heal
Face
Can trace
A calm space
Gain
Joy plain
Not in vain
Cheer
Lives here
To purge fear
Writes
Keep cites
In clear bites
Hook
Good looks
In wise book
Sketch
Deep catch
That lights match
Bliss
Flames this
In sure peace
Light
True sight
In word flight
Leon Enriquez
27 October 2018
Singapore
The same old place
Now feels so strange;
How time and space
Has wrought such change.
The good old days
Now misty blur,
Time ran away
Vague lots cast slur.
The times of old
Once cool and clear,
How life unfolds
Despite odd fears.
The swift passage
Of age growing;
Heed the message
Quick in knowing.
The starting line
So long ago;
Yes yours and mine
End as we go.
Leon Enriquez
19 October 2015
Singapore
They Left so Abruptly
(for the countless South Africans, of all colours, who dedicated their lives for freedom and democracy)
the valiant ones
countless
many known
many more nameless
the truest sons and singers
husbands and poets
lovers and wives
daughters and farmers
workers and sisters
brothers and friends
they left so abruptly
with quiet pride
steely courage
gentle dignity
they left so abruptly
leaving us our tomorrows
brighter
hopeful
filled with promise
they left so abruptly
so that we may breathe
the breath of liberty
the air of freedom
the warmth of justice
they left so abruptly
leaving with us their parting gift
freedom
inkululeko
swatantrata
liberte
azadi
vhudilangi
libertad
they left so abruptly
yet we remember them all
today
in the days that slipped away
and in the many more that we await
they left so abruptly
yet they remain
hewed into our memories
etched in our consciences
engraved in our hearts
they left so abruptly
and yet they endure
with us
within us
now and forever more