They were never mine,
yet somehow, they felt like home.
They became mine in the quiet of my heart,
only to leave me alone.
I broke beneath the weight of longing
for a soul I was never meant to hold.
Yet in every prayer, their presence lingered,
a warmth that slowly turned cold.
They saw me, yet their eyes
held only the silence of goodbye.
So I searched for them in every sign,
in every passing shadow, every sky.
But they faded into a world
where even memories could not reach.
Someone who became mine for a moment,
but was never mine to keep.
And somewhere between their memory
and the silence they left behind,
I forgot where they ended
and where I began.
My daughter, society is family.
Treat everyone with loving kindness.
Truth becomes your first companion.
Respect is life's priceless ornament.
Goodness remains your greatest strength.
Build tomorrow with hopeful dreams.
Make hard work your companion.
Never fear defeat or failure.
Honesty shall guide your journey.
Faith will brighten every step.
Always offer respect before expecting.
Embrace everyone with sincere love.
Humility is your true beauty.
Let gentle words bloom daily.
Keep compassion within your heart.
You are my endless pride.
Your smile is my strength.
Your dreams are my prayers.
Your happiness is my victory.
Your courage fills my heart.
Even when I am absent.
My words will walk beside.
Always choose the truthful path.
May the world honor you.
My blessings remain forever yours
The day you left, time stopped.
My laughter quietly buried beside yours.
Home became walls without heartbeat.
Every sunrise forgot its golden warmth.
I still keep your empty chair.
Dust cannot erase your presence.
Your old shirt still smells familiar.
I hug memories instead of you.
Father, who hears my silence now?
Who blesses my trembling dreams today?
Who hides my tears from storms?
Who calls me their little girl?
I smile before everyone daily.
But nights know my broken soul.
My pillow drinks endless silent tears.
Darkness becomes my closest companion.
Every festival lights another absence.
Every prayer whispers only your name.
Every victory feels painfully incomplete.
Every failure longs for your embrace.
People say time heals everything.
Time never healed your empty place.
It only taught silent endurance.
Pain learned living inside me.
Sometimes I hear your gentle voice.
Sometimes I chase impossible echoes.
Sometimes I wake calling "Appa."
Morning answers only with silence.
If Heaven has listening windows,
Hear your daughter crying tonight.
Hold my shattered heart forever.
Until we meet beyond this life.
Your voice is not only one of a kind.
It is also what gave back most words meaning.
Words that have long lost meaning to me.
For instance love.
If a woman cannot be yours alone.
Then she is no woman.
That a woman cannot be shared amongst men.
Therefore you are not a woman.
Hence I must be on my way,
To wherever far from you.
Remember me.
Love today once more has no meaning.
I will visit you now and then in my memories.
Then revisit you in my dreams.
At least not you yet the version of you,
That I thought I had known.
For if not through these memories,
For if not through these dreams.
Then how elsewhere would we journey,
Between times.
Today I feel grief like I have lost you to death.
Is it death I've lost you to?
If death is a man then yes I've lost you to death.
Then even in death remember me.
By Phan Tan Hai
You carried the fragrance of the sky
from the days of short hair,
bringing it back to leave upon your lips—
a lipstick mark pressed onto paper,
oh one lifetime of longing.
Sitting beside you for a single day,
then a lifetime of farewells;
at the far edge of the sky, birds fly,
their cries falling back
as sorrow gathers in my hands.
Memory—your green hair of one season;
beloved—the small station by the school;
waiting for you, slender as smoke;
forever remembering the letter l for loving you,
beloved—the letter m for missing you.
A lifetime I have searched for you,
eyes looking across many realms;
have you lost your way, little bird?
Lines of poetry bleeding purple ink,
a sharp ache etched into the heart.
If only we had held each other
and strayed off the ancient path—
lipstick mark, where do you go?
The scent I once stole from you
I hide in poems for ten thousand sorrowed lives.
Family relationships are a key;
Abundant joy they bring (and brought) to me.
Mainstays in how we learn to love and grow;
It seems natural for me to feel so.
Living shared memories we hope will last;
Yearning for those times as the years slip past.
Facing adulthood, ditching childish things;
Using this time well to wait in the wings;
New family formed with the love it brings.
By Phan Tan Hai
One day you slammed the door,
and for a lifetime you walked far away.
A hundred years my soul stays open,
waiting for you through seasons of fading flowers.
One day the old fragrance lingers still,
a lifetime drunk on its sweetness.
You left—my soul swayed and staggered,
waiting for you through the ruin of love.
Your red lips still mark the wine glass;
you’re gone, yet your laughter remains.
How can I find the right words
to untangle your wind-tossed hair at the edge of the sky?
You left, but your shadow stayed—
once you stood on tiptoe,
breathing into my soul a slant of dying sunlight,
a kiss lost among the dusty paths of this world.
Mom I miss you so, I remember you so well and all your ways are so near and dear.
Mom I miss you so, thank you for being a great mom and never letting me down.
Mom I miss you so, I never thought you would go so quickly, but I hold all of our memories close to my heart.
Mom I remember how you told me of all your stories, you made me feel like we were in the story.
Mom you made some amazing food, I can still taste them like I ate them today, the memories of your cooking will for ever stay in my mind.
Mom you laughed so hard sometimes, it made me feel happy, you had a laugh that brought out my best.
Mom I remember when you sang in church, you sang so loud we all looked, your soprano voice was one I will never forget.
Mom you had so much love for animals, I remember how you cared and loved for them all.
Mom I am sorry for any pain you had during this life, I know sometimes life was unkind to you, but you put your best in and moved forward.
Lifting prayers to God, today and always.
As the lights shimmer on the water
A rippling cascade of beauty is caused to exude
With the glowing sheen provided by the dockside glow
Making a brilliant natural interlude
When the waves ebb to and fro
And lap at the waters edge, gently
I can hear a voice in my distant mind
Whispering I love you, so pleasantly
With the white and blue lights in the distance
I walk slowly, thinking of you, and your smile
And it reminds me constantly
I have missed you for quite a while
So my mind drifts in and out of true love thoughts
Just like the waters with their Rainbow glow
And I send a message on the wind
To say I love you so
Marlboro breath exhaling frustrations
Struggling with the need of her
Drinking to the moment he lost her
Only to remember how things were
Her ghost haunts his thoughts
Flooding the actions he makes
The feeling of her smooth skin
Craving to be explored on dates
The way she rolled her eyes so loud
Made him fold over in giggles
Saying "I love you" under a breath
She missed all of the signals
Loving carelessly and unconditionally
They always fall into eachother
Friends to most that see them
Tis their eyes meet, lover
The scars are warm and fresh,
The blood flows red.
I have minutes to spend,
A little love to mend.
To whom?
I still don’t know.
The past is perfect;
I see it from a safe spot.
Its scent lingered,
From an oud-rosy cot.
I have a future to share,
A vision...to come.
I still wait for it,
I don't know for how long!
Three tenses
in one body.
Blurry whispers,
I heard in the lobby.
In the blackest nights,
I wore a dress so gaudy.
To remind myself,
even when the scars are fresh,
when the past fades,
Like a childhood friend,
and when the future is
a treacherous chess,
I still have a little love...
To mend.
I no longer wait for you,
Yet I still find myself searching.
There isn’t an ocean’s depth here,
But I still wish to drown in your eyes.
Just once, if I could see you again,
I’d read the lines of the fortunate in my fate.
I don’t know if I could have kept you happy,
But I was happiest just because you existed.
A boy who didn’t even understand what a smile meant,
You taught him how to laugh wholeheartedly.
You untangled the chaos within me,
Removed the thorns from my path,
You gave me everything—
Yet in this war of love, I still lost.
Now there is peace, but you are not here,
My heart still cries, yet it no longer hopes for you.
I wish to be close to you again,
But not as someone special—only to be ignored.
— Lucky
I wonder what my last thought will be,
Will I be looking at a crystal blue sea,
Will I sit there thinking there’s a hole in my sock,
Or will it be which door I forgot to lock.
Will my life flash before my eye's,
Which will be the last in my life’s demise,
Will I remember just one of you, perhaps as you are standing in the hall,
Or will it be a vision of you all?
Will I feel quite tired and think I better go to bed,
Or will I be alert and think about tomorrow instead,
I don’t really know, but as long as my family are doing well,
And that waiting for me in my new life,
Are all of those that have gone before.
When the autumn moon blooms,
The lamp of your memories lights up.
The fragrance of your touch drifts in the air,
And my heart’s courtyard stirs once again.
The rivers are silent, the night stands still,
Only the moon whispers — “Where are you?”
The lines of stars ask softly,
Why are the eyes still wet with tears?
Dewdrops fall as if,
Traces of your unkept promises.
In every sparkle, your face appears,
In every shadow, it is your name.
Beneath this autumn moon,
I held a longing to meet you.
But the cold winds of fate
Turned every hope to ashes.
“Sadness flies away on the wings of time.”
—Jean De La Fontaine
...................................................
Heavy is this gray cloud above our heads,
Its weight like stone, it bows our shoulders low.
The robe of joy we wore is torn to shreds,
We're clothed in tears, in despair, ache, and woe,
Yet still we crave good hearts to love and care.
This yoke we bear clings tight like second skin,
Its presence felt in every breath we take.
Memories we thought were buried within
Still rise and pull us under when we wake,
Our hearts exposed—so empty and stripped bare.
But time erased our sadness, eased the pain,
The scar too faint for even eyes to see.
Now joy returns in true love’s gentle rain,
Its warmth and laughter set our spirits free,
The love it brings now shines with fun and flair.
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