Sunday 16 October 2011

SHI-T


The little artifact, left mistakenly, became a company for a pathetic hope. The different parts, each time taken, become a reminder of a sole entity - and I am forced to reiterate a saying said at a time (perhaps, but hopefully not) long forgone.

But the little thing, with time, became more and more like me, and seemingly less of the other.

What does that say?

Sunday 25 September 2011

PERSONAL CARGO


Upon our heads are the invisible bowls, boxes, buckets. Kept hidden, unseen, the veil continually changing in colour. The burden, or the challenge, to always stand upright. The battle, or the abandonment, to perpetually appeal to somebody's eyes. To withhold the unnecessary, the relay the absolute truth.

To suppress the selfish compulsion, to learn to be content.

Sunday 21 August 2011

CLICK!


When questions arise, defeat them. Or else, let them be. Maybe one day you'll hear a click! in your head, and, suddenly, you'll know what to do, where to go, and who to be.

TO LIVE AND TO DIE


As I recall, in the words of that certain peculiar fellow, there is something astonishingly romantic indeed about dying a believer.

I was a believer, may still be a believer, and may or may not remain a believer.

In any event, bless the believers, and those who do not believe. On the other hand, curse the headless, and save the heartless, please, for I might be the latter, and a hopeless romantic.

REVELATION


There must be at least one moment in a year, a month, a day, when you feel as if the world revolves around you. In another moment in the year, the month, the day, you'd feel tiny, insignificant, vulnerable, and bare.

When either thought overpowers, close your eyes, and drown yourself in nothingness.

Sunday 31 July 2011

NATURAL ANALOGIES


When what was once your absolute surrealism becomes more and more realistic by the moment, what kinds of thoughts haunt you? It’s like a sudden shower pouring over your head when you were outside staring at a city’s skyline on a cold day.

Would you walk away and take shelter, or would you take a deep breath and keep walking?

Friday 29 July 2011

CAST OFF


Some things are often made, but never conveyed.

All the letters in my drawer is proof. All the words in my notebook is proof. All the thoughts I have in mind is proof.

Thursday 28 July 2011

RESONANCE IN THE DARK


I remember when I woke up, thinking that I really heard a scream, a piercing scream, that startled me out of my bed.

The echo of the sound is exactly like the echo of you.

LIGHTS, REFLECTED


Reminiscing is made easy when a reminder from the past, the very recent past, keeps you blinking with eyes alert; when images, taken from another’s eyes, appear before your very eyes; when you wake up, not wanting to wake up, and see your own dream vivid in your head.

Then you start to doubt yourself, because you thought you’ve learnt.

But is it such a sin, wanting not to let go, wanting to grasp what you thought you have, wanting to relive everything you really had?

If only people could live in many realities. Then all my questions would be solved, my curiosity quenched.

Thursday 21 July 2011

THE CONFOUNDER


I never knew I could accept an objection to my reasoning. But maybe I needed that; maybe I needed to be proven wrong, for once.

Your wit astounded me, and left me standing aghast.

Monday 18 July 2011

/


If you are the postman, then I am the messenger.
If you are the magician, then I am the audience.
If you are the prodigy, then I am the adjudicator.

If you are the story-teller, then I am the deceiver.

A STUNNING SPELL


I never could resist an atmospheric charm.

On days, the black starless sky can be as alluring, and as convivial, as a great grey one. If I were large enough to hug it close to my chest, I would. But for that time being, with feet glued to the ground, I felt content silently falling under its spell, and being stunned.

It felt like getting lost within one’s self.

Friday 15 July 2011

LEMONADE


It's a plague, being bitter. I, however, have come to terms with my bitterness.

And it's liberating.

Thursday 14 July 2011

AND THEN WE COLLIDE


Coming to a halt proves to be more difficult than expected. Though the scenery had changed, the talking, the pondering, and the wonderment of it all remains. The facts, laid out eloquently, did nothing to answer the question:

Who’s to blame for a both-to-blame collision?

Wednesday 13 July 2011

BRIDGE


It’s the old formula in writing a song. Put one in, and you’re golden.

But in a different context, seen from a different pair of eyes, absorbed by a different mind – it’s an entirely different matter, one I should probably neglect for the better.

I did walk to the edge, but thank god I didn’t tumble over.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

PICTURESQUE


The wind stops abruptly, then sadness engulfs.

I’ve always envied the people who could stand still behind a lens.
To capture moments into pictures, so long as we’re not entrapped in its seamless surface.


Picture taken in Sydney (July 2010).

Saturday 25 June 2011

NANA


I fed a plant a dose of cigarette ashes. I named the plant Nana.

If Nana could talk, I’m pretty sure she’d have qualms about it. But she cannot, and for that I am grateful. Despite what I may be held accountable for, I hope she will be healthy, and alive, and most importantly, sane.

I hope I’ll still be sane, too, at the end of the day.

Wednesday 22 June 2011

DER UNTERGANG


Let me tell you about blunders.

It started with my loss, tears, and cries, and was coloured by my naivety. Then came the appointment, the relations, and the revelations, and all the feelings that ensued.

For your information, I am intent on making it end with your downfall.

"WOLF!"


Just like the story, the girl yelled “wolf!” and all eyes fell on her. When the audience knew that the wolf was not actually there, they hurried back to their works, grumbling as they scurry along.

Not satisfied, being the narcissist she is, she yelled again. “WOLF!” she said. The kind audience, being the human that they are, once again turned their heads and broke their necks coming to her aid. And no, the wolf was not there. The audience must feel like gullible sheep by now.

The third time she yelled wolf, the audience… Well, you know how the damn story goes: the girl gets her head bitten off (I think, and I hope). What is left to figure out is how you stand in the story.

Unfortunately, I think I play the role of the audience here. The gullible, naive audience.

Sunday 19 June 2011

THE MESSENGER


A Tribute to Jakartan Postmen:

Tidakkah kau merana saat angka tak lagi berguna, dan lampu merah kehilangan artinya?

Friday 17 June 2011

AFFAIR


"All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors."

- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

An affair with Dorian Gray’s picture reflects my disgust, my curiosity, my intrigue towards an act of spiralling into a kismet beyond the point of reason. The affair, having taken place besides a lonely bedside lamp, made loneliness a treasure I would not trade for little.

Saturday 16 April 2011

GENERAL AVERAGE


I understand if you're wary.

The ship had run aground - but it had been salvaged. Now it's sailing, finer than ever, and I understand if you're wary. But when it's back redelivered and ready to sail again (like it has, time and time again), this time carrying something you do not have (and you will never have), we wouldn't want you on board.

I'll discharge you in the middle of voyage if I have to, for the sake of the rest of my cargo.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

THE UGLY GREY SKY


Eyang, Om, dan Sepupu.

Why does it rain every time, the times that you go? It’s the only time I detest this city’s beautiful grey sky. I wouldn’t mind being locked up in that sterile room for longer, breathing in the medicine odour. Laughing at the Rubik’s Cube, watching movies on the hallway floor, smoking outside the hospital doors – it wasn’t bad at all. But instead of staying, you left. And the rain would always soak my shirt, time and time again.

I miss you, guys. I knew I would, but not this much.

Sunday 13 March 2011

OUIJA BOARD


Explainable does not mean justifiable. Especially when the evidences cannot be read, and the witnesses are dead.

Sorry. Too much of the sun and not enough of the moon have made me beyond irritable. And I'm beyond the point of hunting you down.

Go ahead and prowl the woods. It's what you do best, isn't it?

Monday 21 February 2011

THE NOT-SO-SECRET SECRET


Findings are interesting things.

Whether they’re entirely new by nature, or whether they’re hidden treasures from the past. Whether they’re ones that make you wish for an invisible cloak, or whether they elate your poor, poor heart.

Whether they’re discoveries, sightings, or realisations, you’ll appreciate them all the same at the end. Now I sound like an old lady, but…

They’re really precious things, they are.

KITCHEN HEAT


An obsession is the perfect distraction - take out your measuring cups, count your stirrings, and time your moment of waiting. If only I had a guidebook for what I have to deal with you, I think I'd be pretty good at it. But the things is, there's never going to be one.

So please don't mind my confusion. I'll bake you the perfect cake in the meantime.

Bear with me.

Friday 4 February 2011

WINE IN A PLASTIC CUP



Hong Kong, 17 January - 3 February, 2011.

The Train
If an everyday commute is just like this, I would play it on repeat, again and again. Beyond the glass is the uneven terrain, glowing in the blue mist of winter. Behind my back, the sea stretches endlessly, seemingly calm in the bone-chilling wind.

The Apartment
The tip of my nose is almost touching the window, and beyond the balcony are the terminals. Airline terminals. And the runways. Airplane runways. And the countless planes, zooming into the sky, somehow silent from such a close distance.

The Airport
Squinting into the blinding afternoon sun, I wonder if they’re home yet. The next thing I know - a train wreck. A muddle of thoughts, memories, visions. Ones I intend to keep, and to live for, for the feeling hasn’t changed.

I’m still in love.

Tuesday 11 January 2011

THAT TALL OFFICE BUILDING


When you’re locked in your own head, I’m free to roam the green, green grass. Or wherever I want to be. Constraint is what you live for, for you do not know any other way, or chose to ignore.

When you’re locked in your own head, I’ll look through your window, and laugh.

THOSE CONDESCENDING EYES


If crying is a sign of weakness, than I am undoubtedly weak, and so are the people of the world. When your tears are frozen, and your eyes hurt, and your hands tremble, and your head ache, unbearably, you’ll wish you could sob, weep, cry. Just like me.

Just like the rest of the world.

SUCH A COLD BITCH


The world is cold, but I can be colder.

But I’m not proud of that, unlike you. You strive knowing that you’re distant, you’re condescending, you’re cold. I do not. I live better, and happier, outside the igloo that was once my home.

I hope your ego will devour you whole, someday.

CAPTAINS OF THE WORLD


I am reminded how you don’t need those straight A’s, that impeccable speech, or that flawless logic to feel, to appreciate, to find yourself in the world.

I wish these reminders come more often.