While browsing through blog posts on WordPress.com one day, I found a blog called A Writer’s Path. The site has regular writing prompts, and I found one I liked – ORANGE TREE. Well, it has to do with a tree for starters, and I like plants. 🙂
The poem tells the fictitious story of a less-than-picture-perfect life of a girl. She blossoms into a woman, falls in love, gets married, but ultimately parts from her partner. However, she finds happiness in her family of three children, her dog and nature. To accompany the poem, I have also done a simple illustration with my coloured pencils and Artline 210 pen.
Under the Orange Tree
Under the orange tree
I would spend my time
In the woods; blissfully free
Simple pleasures enjoyed; sublime
Lying under the orange tree
I craved for naught, but the breeze
Unshackled youth; carefree
Until pollen made me sneeze
Under the orange tree
Was the first time I saw you
With your friends, filled with glee
The sight of you moved me; the feeling grew
Under the orange tree; in the moonlight
Was the first time I kissed you
Encircled by fireflies; shining bright
The beginning of something new
Under the orange tree
Strewn with autumn leaves
We parted ways; to the humming of bees
You moved on; I was left to grieve
Under the orange tree
Years later; in the blossoming spring
Surrounded by loved ones; three
Children grown up; now I’m free
Under the orange tree
Reminiscing happy memories; smiling thoughtfully
With beloved dog at my knee
Gladness once again; painting artfully
Today, I was reading Silver Threading‘s post on being positive, a delightful article, when I came across something interesting – Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Poetry Challenge. Two words are provided as a prompt to write a haiku every week. I thought it was a fun activity to challenge creativity. So, I thought I’d give it a go. 🙂
Word prompt: War & Fame
Photo taken at Taman Botani, Forest Research Institute Malaysia on 15 Feb 2011
War & Fame
The blood lust of war
Painted crimson through the lands
Fame of tyrants mar
An original haiku by
Khor Hui Min
26 February 2015
Today, I wrote a poem about clouds for the Malaysian Writers FB Group writing prompt. It is an acrostic poem where the first letter of each line in the poem spells out the word CLOUD.
I was also in the mood to draw, which is a very rare occurrence indeed. I drew a simple illustration with my trusty Artline pen to complement the poem. Actually, I was inspired to illustrate my poems after reading William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, an illustrated collection of poems. A master engraver, Blake illustrated, printed and illuminated the poems of Songs of Innocence himself in 1789. Five years later, he bound these poems with a set of new poems, Songs of Experience, in a volume entitled Songs of Innocence and of Experience Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. I was fortunate enough to acquire a book featuring the complete volume of poems with their original illustrations 2 weeks ago. 🙂 William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English painter, poet and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.
Wishing everybody a very Happy Chinese New Year 2015. On the second day of the new lunar calendar, I decided to write a haiku series in line with the new year theme.
The year 2014 was full of trials and tribulations, with floods, missing aeroplanes, planes shot down and etc. I hope the Year of the Goat will bring better times ahead for one and all.
Photo of red ixora flowers taken in Bentong on 20 February 2015
I. Lunar New Year
Welcome, dear New Year
Year of the Goat; glad tidings
Hopes and dreams renewed
Photo of herbal tea plants taken in Bentong on the second day of Chinese New Year 2015
II. Renewed hopes
Fresh optimism
For a better year ahead
Floods and tears, goodbye
Photo of bunch of bananas taken outside a house in Bentong on 20 February 2015
III. Abundance
Challenging year, past
Aspiring for abundance
Sufficient for all
Wildflowers in Cameron Highlands. Photo taken during Chinese New Year 2012.
IV. Opportunities
Heralding the new
Prospects for personal growth
And development
Photo of pineapple taken in Puchong on 15 February 2015
V. Prosperity
Year of good fortune
Revived world economy
Turn it back around
River leading to Chamang Waterfall, a popular recreational area in Bentong, Pahang
VI. Peace and harmony
Do not be derailed
By those who wish to shatter
Fragile harmony
Original haiku series by
Khor Hui Min
20 February 2015
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember with peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be…
Today, we have a special guest post by my friend, and fellow nature lover and poet, Mariam Jutta. Hope you like her poem. 🙂
Unromantic
Yes, you ask me
Often
why I am so unromantic?
And yes, I plead guilty to the accusation.
I am unromantic
Because I like to watch you
In your beauty, in your work, your play
And when you sleep.
Because I enjoy talking to you
The one who does understand me.
Because I like to listen to your voice
Your views and opinions.
Because I value you, appreciate you
Cherish you.
I choose to be
unromantic.
Because then I can give to you all of my love
With all my heart.
I’ve been writing every week now since 2015 started. It is with great delight that I find that with increased frequency, the ideas materialise more readily and the ink flows more easily . 🙂
The month of February is the month to celebrate love and togetherness… and don’t forget to go out there and buy a ridiculously expensive present for your loved one, whisper the advertisements and jingles. Well, let’s not get carried away with the commercialisation of the season.
The Writer’s Tower is having some fun this month with their new writing theme, drum roll… UNROMANTIC. 😀 Throw in a bonus word, either ‘eccentric’ or ‘candelabra’, and one will win a Writer’s Tower Medal. 😉
Okay, let’s set the mood with a dreamy photo first… LOL…
A cycad butterfly dances and twirls round and round on a large torch ginger flower in an orang asli village, in Ulu Gombak, Kuala Lumpur.
The Journey
Life is a great journey
Sometimes, it’s smooth sailing
Other times, everything’s blurry
Or stormy weather approaching
Everybody’s looking for something
If you haven’t found it, that’s okay
The journey’s full of gems, surprising
We’ll stick together, come what may
Stay by my side, along the way
In my heart, you’ll always have a place
Anytime, just come by; night or day
I’ll make time surely; I’ll make space
The stars, across the skies, we’ll chase
We’ll swing from old chandeliers
Dripping with spider webs and lace
It’s fine to be eccentric, my dear
This only happens once; don’t live in fear
We can be clueless; hopelessly unromantic
Broken hearts, glistening with tears
Life’s not perfect; happily ever after isn’t automatic
Always stock up on some extra cheer
With the rising sun; a new day dawns
Away with the dying darkness; Light is near
A chance at happiness; right the wrongs
Above all else, always stay strong
Life is like a dream; a mere illusion
Not to be taken too seriously; like a song
Fill the journey with hope and with passion
When I was in school, my mum gave me a small book of quotes. She used it when she was in school, and she thought I might have some use for it. When she gave it to me, it had already started to turn brown and brittle around the edges, and the binding was starting to come apart.
I did flip the little book open sometimes and look up quotes according to a chosen topic, or just flip to some random page. The book, now more decomposed, is somewhere in one of my book boxes in the store room, but I still remember some of my favourite quotes from its pages.
My favourite of all the quotes is by George Linnaeus Banks:
In fact, I liked the quote so much that I put it on the dedication page of my thesis. I felt it was very meaningful, and personified my outlook in life.
The second quote I liked from the book is short and simple, but profound:
The quote is true and it shows how one’s outlook significantly affects one’s life. The optimist sees all that is positive and good, while the pessimist wallows in resentment and discontent at all the things that didn’t go his/her way.
You only live this life once. Would you choose to be happy or unhappy all the time? I choose the former option. What about you?
My colleague once told me that I should start writing a diary, because my short non-work e-mails made her laugh. I should write the funny stuff down before I forget them, right? 🙂 Okay, I’m flattered that someone said I’m funny. 🙂
So, today I decided to start that diary thing that was first suggested like two years ago. Here it goes…
If you can’t see the words clearly, please click on the image to read it in larger print. I’m experimenting with Adobe Illustrator for this one. I think I have to use an image in portrait next time.
If you just want to read it as a normal blog post, here it is:
Diary of a Quirky Girl
Friday, 6 February 2015
My car’s air-conditioning died 3 days ago. It’s not that I like saunas. I don’t. But the day the air-con died, I went to a car service centre and the foreman said I’d have to pay over RM1,000 to get a new air-con compressor. I imagined flushing the bonus I was going to get three months from now down the toilet. I was speechless, and he gave me his most sympathetic look. Luckily, he asked me to come back the next day, because it was almost closing time.
Nope, this won’t do. It was time to get a second opinion. So, I took Friday afternoon off from work, and went to an automobile air-con service shop not far from home. The whole row of motley car service shops was empty, except for this one. It had like 5 cars and lorries parked all around it, and one shiny red Peugeot parked inside.
At first, the boss ignored me. I thought he couldn’t hear me. After I spoke louder, he told me what I wanted to know – the shop closes at 6pm daily, and yes, he can fix my car before then. So, I hung around. Actually I was standing here and there among the tools and parts strewn all over the blackened oil-soaked cement floor. Then, he finally asked me to start the engine. He popped open the bonnet, and in no time, pronounced that the cooling coil was the culprit. RM400 for an original, he said. Then, more waiting. Sleepy and tired after my auto sauna, I went in and sat on one of the flimsy cheap plastic chairs in front of the one and only desk in the workshop. I was surrounded by compressors and all manner of parts and bits of things.
Then, I don’t know what came over me, but I sat with my left side to the back of the chair, arm over the back. Then I put my head on that arm and went promptly to sleep. What ensued was quite fascinating. Between my bouts of semi-consciousness and total blackness, comparable to a drunken stupor without alcohol, I saw that the boss had started work on my car once I started to snooze. I also noticed through the haze of sleep that the workers and other customers were peering curiously at me. What? Never seen a girl before?
After a while, I moved from the back of the chair to the desk and put my bag on top, then my head on the bag. It was then that the boss came and sat down in front of me.
“Your car’s ready,” he said in his gruff voice. He was smiling, clearly amused.
I said, “Yeah, really?”
He opened the bill book and wrote. His blackened fingers left imprints all over the page. RM230 was his final figure. It wasn’t even the cooling coil. It was just the hose connected to it. I paid up. Wow, what a far cry from RM1,000. I thanked my lucky stars.
I checked the time. It was 4.30 pm. Did I like sleep for half an hour or an hour? Time was kind of fuzzy after I dozed off.
Project Prose 