Exhaustion

The night air is quiet And I neither sleep nor wake But move on from task to task As best as weak strength can make Do I still have a soul I wonder It feels hidden away somewhere Leaving just the flesh and bone And tired eyes to stare Silently at the screen I gaze from left to right In this darkened place It seems so very bright My feelings have vanished I don't seem alive But this heart keeps beating Against death it still strives But my mind has deserted me It's mired in grey fog My limbs worn down and heavy Like a pair of logs Everything feels dry The heart is withered and grey The whole world feels Like a cloudy overcast day I don’t know who I am I don't know where I'm placed I seem to be some machine Working with a plastic face I can't start I can't stop I can't stay I can't go I need to find, where is it? Where can I find my soul?

Copyright © 2016 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2016/12/exhaustion.html

Mirrors

One dark moon lit night

I walked into a room filled with moonlight

And saw a hundred mirrors each standing on stands

Each one deliberately designed by man’s hand

I walked to the first at the side of the place

Held it up and saw a sliver of my face

‘Disabled’, the words on the mirror said

But I didn’t see me so the image I’d trade

I walked to the next by a painting strange

For the faces there always changed

I looked into the mirror and I saw my face

But not my features, my character, just my race

I set the mirror for race down

And next to some prayer beads another one found

‘Religion’ it said, ‘in most the world’

And saw a perfect but unreal girl

I moved on to the drawers and beside a dress

Found a full length mirror straining under stress

I tried on the dress, did a little turn

And saw in the mirror, not a person, just a woman

As I got rid of the outfit something caught my eye

From the moonlight bouncing off a mirror shy

Dusty and broken lying on the floor

I wondered what it was meant for

It was small and simple, but firmly held in place

Just enough to reflect my face

On its edges was carved one word: ‘humanity’

And when I gazed into it I saw me

Copyright © 2016 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2016/08/mirrors.html

The World outside the Window

In the room the world is dull

The walls and floor are plain

The lights are dimmed, the sound’s a constant hum

It always feels like it’s about to rain

Day in day out

Constant and unchanging

The sun rises and the sun sets

And you never hear a bird singing

Yet out of the corner of your eye

You can see the world outside

The bright sun on the green leaves

The brightening and waning of the day’s light

You see the leaves toss as they are blown

By a gale from the sea

You see butterflies and birds

Playing hide and seek amongst the trees

Storms arise and then subside

Behind that tinted glass

You see flowers bloom and then fade

And you find that you can trust

That though inside the world seems

To never ever change

But just outside the window

That world never stays the same

Copyright © 2016 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-world-outside-window.html