Kuala Poems

Ode To Kuala Lumpur

Oh Kuala Lumpur, city of contrasts
Where ancient and modern, beautifully coexist
Your towering skyscrapers, a sight to behold
A modern metropolis, that never grows old

From the iconic Petronas Twin Towers
To the bustling streets of Bukit Bintang
A city that never sleeps, always alive
A true cosmopolitan, that continues to thrive

Amidst the concrete jungle, there lies
A hidden gem, that captures the eyes
The Batu Caves, a natural wonder
A sacred shrine, that never loses its thunder

Your street food scene, a culinary delight
From nasi lemak to roti canai, each a bite
A melting pot of flavors, that tantalize
A foodie paradise, that leaves us mesmerized

And let's not forget your people, so warm
A friendly smile, that always reforms
A diverse community, that welcomes all
A city of unity, that stands tall

Oh Kuala Lumpur, how you enchant
A city of dreams, that we all want to plant
A place of endless possibilities, that never cease
Kuala Lumpur, with Petronas Twin Towers, you truly please.

Train Dreams

We took the night train
from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
you had family there.

The carriage was full
we swayed
while desires rocked
and steamy passions melted 
the iron rails of decorum.

I wanted to take you right there,
there in that stuffy, sweating throng
upon the carriage floor
between a crowd of shuffling feet,
but there was not an inch to maneuver

and so we made love with closed eyes
somewhere on an empty platform
undaunted
by this long deep ride into want and need
or any destination.

Love Is a Fragile Nocturn

The male ward is never quiet at night,
machines hooked-up to invisible bodies
buzz and beep.
Someone’s moaning in his sleep.
I listen to the late-shift nurses gossiping
at their station.
Follow their footsteps as they move
from somewhere to some other place.
Every hour she arrives by my bed to check my vitals.
mostly I contrive to be unconscious -
just savoring her gentle touch.
Beds creak as patients turn in their discomfort.
I know what she looks like; petite, lovely.
I got myself stabbed in Kuala Lumpur, my fault,
got too drunk to be careful. It’s 1981
back then China Town could get rough.
I’m planning to marry the Chinese nurse
soon as I am up and about.
Meanwhile the other sick folks here
piss their beds, fart, or cough up a lung,
seemingly hell bent on disturbing
my drug induced fantasies.

Malaysia Explained

Glorious Malaysia with her strawberry farms and butterfly gardens
She is a study in diversity, a beautiful adventure waiting for you.
Her beautiful secluded beaches surrounded by jungles entice us to visit.
She has several cultural influences – Malay, Chinese and Indian.

Gorgeous Malaysia parading her Perdana Botanical Garden.
Museums, seaside fort, historical homes and murals of Georgetown.
Mount Kinabalu, Merara Kuala Lumpur, and the Perhentian Islands.
She invites you to snorkel, dive, bird watch, raft and fish in her depths.

At her Batu Caves you will discover the Hindu Shrine of the God of War.
Her answer to the USA’s Las Vegas is found in the Genting Highlands.
Come see Sipadan Island and her Gunung Mulu National Park.
Malaysia, the adventure of your lifetime!

Do You Know Me

My friend, do you know me?
   I am a Pharisee
No, not per the dictionary
  Which mischaracterizes my beliefs and me

For while he keeps the tradition, it's true
  A Pharisee's an ever-evolving Jew
He delves deep into the Talmud to learn the ways
  to deal with the problems of the world today

Thanks to the Pharisees a Jewish-Israeli farmer
   can halakhically* 'Sabbath-milk' a cow in its barn, or
devotedly observe Passover or Yom Kippur
  be he in the jungle, outer space, or Kuala Lumpur

What's more, be it abortion, euthanasia or homosexuality
  the Talmud treats current issues of controversiality --
A Pharisee views the times in light of the Talmud, you see
  ~ differentiating his faith from Hebraic-Christianity**


________________________________________________
* halakhically = in accordance with Jewish Law, in this case
                        the laws of the Sabbath
** Practitioners (for a few generations after Jesus Christ) 
                        were known as Hebrew-Christians.

Pneumatic Emphatic

PNEUMATIC EMPHATIC

There’s a lady in Kuala Lumpur
Likes to wear a tight fitting jumper
And to make the men smile 
She’ll inflate her profile 
With the aid of a bicycle pumper

First Travel Insurance

First trip was at Kuala Lumpur
Flight was always delayed due to a strong down pour

Second trip was at Langkawi
So giddy when our ferry boat sails on the sea

Third trip was at Penang
Thought we’ll travel by train on land

Having now my very first travel insurance
Hello! I prefer to travel by foot on land!




Oct. 7, 2017          2.15pm





A remembrance trip poem for myself



3 Free Travels + free travel insurance for the 3rd time:)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oct. 13-17, 2012 Students’ Educt’l  Trip)
Langkawee, Malaysia: March  12, 2013( Faculty  Tour)
Penang, Malaysia: Oct. 1-6, 2017 (Students’ Educt’l Trip)

Malaysia

Mosques embellish the land in grandeur
Arts of its city including its Petronas Twin Tower at Kuala Lumpur
Langkawi flaps its wings beckoning its great wonder
Atop of mountains viewed the paradise by a cable car tour.
You and I will enjoy its beauty like fresh hibiscus flower
Smiles remain on lips of frequent visitors and travelers
I take pride of its warm accommodation each time of the year
And for verdant natures of Penang, I’ll give a toast, cheers!

Oct. 7, 2017   3.02pm



Note: Hibiscus flower is the national flower or symbol of Malaysia






A remembrance tour poem for myself:)



My 3 Free Trips to Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oct. 13-17, 2012 (Students’ Educational Camp)
Langkawi, Malaysia: March 12, 2013 (School Tour)
Penang, Malaysia: Oct. 1-6, 2017 (Students’ Educational Camp)

Natalie Blake

Natalie has been to five Paralympics, including Rio, 
And recently took the bronze at World Powerlifting, 
In Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia 2016, IPC World Cup -
It paralleled her Glasgow silver, Commonwealths. 

She lifts in the 61kg class, but in Malaysia lifted a PB
Of 98kg. In 2013 at the Euros, Russia, she won silver, 
And in 2015 at the Euros in Hungary she won bronze. 
She’s competed longer than any other in powerlifting.

After finishing sixth at Rio she remarked: “I’m happy
with how I've done, I was hoping to get 3 good lifts
but just missed out on my 2nd. I'm pleased to clear
93kg, overall it was an amazing atmosphere, brilliant.”

Mh17 Tragedy

This is a tragedy
A tragic in the history
MH a Malaysian Hospitality
Ended in a catastrophe
Another date of unhappy

July 17 you flew from Amsterdam
MH 17 you are proud flying no harm
Boeing 777 is your airplane
You are shot down in Ukraine
That’s in the Russian border
In the conflict zone it happen

Malaysians are shock
Everyone felt struck
And we mourn the attack
Crying your luck

Your destiny hack
Before MH370 is back
You come with a shock
Suppose Kuala Lumpur is your last track


Kota Kinabalu (18 July)

Soul Searching

I meandered through the muddy Mekong
Searched in sultry sexy Saigon
Ravished in the Cat Thien Rain forest
Yet I still could not find you

I found myself haunted in Hong Kong
Caught up in the cacophony of China
Trailed my way thoughts to Taiwan
And still I could not find you

I jostled and jaunted through Japan
Hoping Kyoto would hold my Karma
It only got me caught up in Korea
And still I could not find you

So I backtracked and got tormented in Thailand
Which had me pondering Penang
Hoping you would be caught in Kuala Lampur
Yet still I could not find you

I searched for you in the East
Hoping to calm my inner beast
Believing my inner mind to be true
That maybe one day - I'll find you...

More Steps

Another walking forward again
Where somehow more gain
I don’t know where to go from here
But most important Kuala Lumpur as a guide point 
Just passed by Temasek, at Johor Baharu live in Tasek
No other words that I can express our gratitude
Than with love and affection that we could
In Shaa Allah still meet in the future that we should
I love you peace and I would.
More steps to walk the world!

Breath of the Informer, An Allegory

for Thirugnanamoorthy

Remorseful, the noonday sun
Frizzles with the stealthy wind
Under the rubbery mountain green.
A calmness has come to rest
From having tossed in its sleep.
The forest has taken leave
Of the hunted horn and drum.
No more the tapper late of nap
Scurries to the haven of a nest.
No more the rattle whisper fades
To nothingness in a lonesome rest.
No more, no more, for the heavens
Sleep and all the troops sleep too.
The sinewy python stretched past
Clumsily the ragged rock and branch.
The Owl has called its reveille at last.
And the forest sleeps with the wind
Gently fanning some whisper closer
And closer, every wave, a venomous flick
Of a serpent, a kiss of rest.

(Letter describing the situation in Malaya and denouncing
treachery, written in 1952 to Thirugnanamoorthy who was banished
by a British magistrate to Ceylon in March 1952. The letter never
reached him.)

© T. Wignesan, Seremban, 1952. Pub. in Tracks of a Tramp : a
first collection of poems, 1951-1961. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore :
Rayirath Publications, 1961.

Little Clock

for Gertrud Widmayer, my landlady at Heidelberg

Why in pensive ticking, silent thoughts
   You wile your time away
When all around huge swelling bells
   Toll the days away!

Every hour that announced may go
   Your silent hands take hold
And though the ages chimed in ears
   Yours they never behold.

If all the clocks the world had known
   Had struck one strong big note,
They would never still your plodding tone
   Nor the working hearth you alert.

Do you wonder, wonder, little clock
   What makes the grandfather tick!
Or his aching belly in the depth of sorrow
   Cries to the world it's sick!

Thirty million years and Pleistocene dark,
   They are one split second short!
And whimpering suns that rise and flop
   Have scarce stolen your tick or thought!

So, my little clock, my faithful clock
   When I hear the tall town bell,
I'll shrug my shoulders, one tiny moment
   And know that all is well.

©  T. Wignesan, 1957 (from the collection: Tracks of a Tramp. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore: 1961)

I Saw a Tree A-Falling

I saw a tree a-falling
   a-falling down on me
I had no way to turn
   it was close on me

I thought it was a plot
   to force me out
I knew I could not
   even hold it or shout

It was a tree I sheltered
   on many a longing day
And now it was so altered
   coming to make me pay

I asked it why it longed
   to touch its upmost brim
When all around no foe
   turned the sun down dim

I touched its bark to hear
   I thought I heard a cry
Two leaves it shed on me
   and brushed its bark up high

I asked it why it stood
   alone and left to brood
It shook its sticks in emphasis
   as if to say it was good

© T. Wignesan - Paris, 1957 (from Tracks of a Tramp. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore: Rayirath Publications, 1961.)

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