#instruthhumor

[instruth]

DUSK FLAMING ARROW

Dusk flaming arrow

View from my window

I see a weeping willow

Wondering if she knows

My heart is full of sorrow

As the sunset sinks below

The horizon bleeds on yellow

The sky will sleep till tomorrow

Heavy in grief and sorrow

walking the streets of narrow

wrinkled faces ready to burrow

turning to yesterday for a borrow

waiting for a brand new tomorrow

tears wheeled away by the barrow

hear thee a whiff of poisoned arrows

Stiff hairs rising row by row

finders of bone to the marrow

by eerie sounds of cursed crows

grim faces all sliced to the furrow

plowing the wounds with a harrow

burying all the unhatched sparrows

fear sprouting upward from the snow

Red cheeks turn pale to sallow

surfing waves go high and low

sailing away from the gallows

forever to be cursed a yellow

in self pity to cry and wallow

heartbeats arise to a billow

voices down to the hollow

Instinct triggers the onset aglow

with heavy head resting on a pillow

sinking into the feathered bed below

in dreamland with all the good fellows

inbred by the doves and the swallows

till senses turn calm to a mellow

worthy to wear a crown of hallow

©Johnny J P Lee

06 May 2021

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

KINGDOM

every choice I make

is a kingdom in itself

just have to name it

need not look elsewhere

the kingdom is within me

daily dwelling place

for my status now

depends on experiences

on how I have lived

what more I become

depends on choices I make

the rest of my days

©Johnny J P Lee

17 April 2021

Haiku 5-7-5

[instruth]

TIME AND TIME AGAIN

There is no time anytime,

sometime, perhaps, this time,

for another time of good time,

but there is a time every time

for an overtime to find more time,

especially at times when time

is the only time you can time

an actual time to catch some time

and make time for taking back the time

you have lost from wasting time,

to how much time you gain for the time

while spending time for a little time

with your grandmother in quality time,

before time becomes a passing time,

just so a timely time

may find no time at all

to recover from a timeless moment

for a moment of your time,

provided you still have time

for some spare time

to keep the time,

and not get timed out

from a pleasant time

to save some real time

for the right time

in measured time,

time and time again.

©Johnny J P Lee

17 April 2021

Photo Credit, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

I Dream I Could Fly

I dream I could fly

way up to the sky

with my friendly birds

together we flap and chirp

I am very brave

we fly up to a cave

And look down to the sea

Beauty everywhere, all I can see

I cross the sea on expanded wings

I see the distant shore, I begin to sing

Oh! The fields and plains come to view

I scan the earth below in its wondrous hue

Lo and behold! Red roses and all the reds

Among the colors the rainbow has bred

Awake, my daily life is no longer the same

I appreciate nature’s providence by name

In my mind I still fly there for a good rest

A little house on an island, away from wrest

©Johnny J P Lee

01 May 2021

Photo Credit, Pa-ola123

[instruth]

The Ceiling Above The Mind

Projection of the will runs up the wall

to the higher ceiling above the mind.

The limitless stretching beyond it all,

by self searching for a miraculous find.

An ancient door leading to the one mall

of fame, knowledge, dreams, and a kind

of desire just out of reach, near but tall,

well hidden in the ceiling above the mind.

©Johnny J P Lee

22 April 2021

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

CHATTING UP MY NERVES ANEW

Today I chat up my nerves anew

Messages perhaps for only a few

Sizzling under the blistering sun

Till day be drawn when light is done

Glum at dusk as stars sculpture a face

And the night drags me to a darker place.

The winter’s chilling wind blows

Where it goes to, no one knows

Matters not where, only that it is here

Put on fur coats, pulled over the ears

Time to hibernate, to cozy bed I’ll go

Where dreams shall comfort, be it so

As clouds bring the promise of rain

Soon! Spring will surely come again

Listen, whichever one is still able

For the rest, there's only a parable.

Lonely hearts no longer cool the sun

Knotted hearts will get nothing done

Choked hearts simply cannot breathe

Fearful hearts only confined to grieve

Waiting to be free when the heart is open

Unknotted, unchained to touch the heavens

I'll be back

I’ve never left

Don't look there

I am here.

The butterfly buzzes with life

The caterpillar feeds all day

The pupa sleeps through the night

The imago emerges on a new morn

With life renewed

A new creation.

©Johnny J P Lee

06 May 2021

Photos Credit John Lim

[instruth]

OPENINGS TO AN ENDGAME

Openings are initial moves

They have names, and they vary

One side in offense, the other defense

Light color against dark color

Develop the patterns but not too many

Soldiers not to run twice in a stretch

Hide the queen, behind the troops

Play the bishop, strike with the knight

Castles to open in the early morning

Connect the rooks by using the flanks

Develop attacks to control the centre

Protect the king, plant the fork snipers

Queen sneaks out at night, in all directions

Strategies stretch till the very last move

Conquest is the aim, that’s the Endgame

Play in your head to train your imagination

©Johnny J P Lee

06 May 2021

Photos Credit Unsplash Images

[instruth]

Awakened For A Cloudy Morning View

Awakened for a cloudy morning view

Overlooking the quiet sleeping lake

Surrounded by the fragrant scent of dew

Peace, with every breath that I take

I feel safe in my sanctuary well embraced

by mountains and flaming flowers too

Grassy greens wave, wind on my face

Romancing with nature, sounds of coo

©Johnny J P Lee

20 April 2021

Photo Credit, Throughwinterfields

[instruth]

🎼 The Songs We Sang Last Summer 🎼

🎼

The songs we sang last summer

I’d never thought would be our last

Loving memories I’ll always remember

Alone, I now sing, to travel to our past

🎼

The times we spent over last summer

Keep running clearly in my mind

Loving moments as we held together

Weaving a lasting imprint to bind

🎶 Forever to treasure

Humming our melody

No words can measure

This living on a memory

That I still know for sure🎶

🎼

My joy is complete, that you love me

There is nothing more I would prefer

With pledges of true love eternally

By the songs we sang last summer

©Johnny J P Lee

20 April 2021

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

[instruth]

🎼 AS THE CLOUDS ROLL BY 🎼

🎼

I watch as the white clouds roll by

Beauties changing before my eyes

I feel so alive, pondering at the sky

On a grassy patch by the bank I lie

🎼

Oh! How I wish that I could fly

Way up to the heavens on high

And sing songs of sweet lullaby

Float in dances to gravity defy

🎶 Oh! If I could I’ll try

Ride on your carpet, fly

Oh! White clouds way up high

Together, let’s roam the sky🎶

🎼

Dream of love I cannot deny

Promises of hope I can rely

Head on my opened palms I sigh

To the rolling clouds, why oh why

©Johnny J P Lee

17 April 2021

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

At Night When I Couldn’t Sleep

At night when I couldn’t sleep

I stare and focus on the ceiling

Till the blanks begin to creep

In swift patterns without chilling

Dancers in quick steps at the royal ball

Soft music plays a sonata symphony

The dance floor shines as gold coins fall

Jingling, I find myself in good company

I count the fallen coins, sweet sixteen

I pick them up to enter the gaming hall

Where I meet our royal king and queen,

the palace staff, bishop, knights and all

I am promoted an official in charge

Paint the floor in white and black squares

Sixty four in all, evenly, by and large

with statutes on thirty two, much as I dare

With these, I play a game of mind and wits

In advancing patterns on a battle field

Strategies, bravery, traps, sacrifices to fit

What I cannot conquer I willingly yield

It is not just a game of losing or winning

Only to persevere through thick and thin

Learning to go to sleep happily grinning

When I am restless on needles and pins

©Johnny J P Lee

26 April 2021

Cartoon, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

See The Fairies At Dawn

I wake up early to see the fairies at dawn

Catch a sniff of the grass dew on my lawn

Two faces reflecting from a cool stream

Just as I’d seen them earlier in my dream

They say fairies appear in purple and blue

Accompanied by charming butterflies too

If you observe closely you’ll see Tinker Bell

I see them all, I hope you see them as well

©Johnny J P Lee

20 April 2021

Photos Credit, Xesusrl

[instruth]

secret in my heart

stillness throbbing silently

sound waves reach thine eyes

©Johnny J P Lee

5 May 2021

katauta 5-7-5 (to a lover)

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

The Sound Of Laughter

The sound of laughter

by children at play

Happy ever after

children show the way.

The sound of giggles

children at the swing

Hearts go a-jingle

when children sing.

Laughter is pure

children’s innocence

Laughter’s the best cure

It is life’s essence.

©Johnny J P Lee

23 April 2021

Photos Credit, Aseelalattar

[instruth]

REWRITING A LOVE STORY

The words of a love story

Enter into an eternal space

Drift aback, softly, into history

Presently arriving, face to face

A new page to continue the story

From the clouds, from trees to dale

In a passionate union by the gust

Love weaves an unending tale

Sacrifice, Humility and Trust

Sip an elixir of dew and ale

©Johnny J P Lee

25 April 2021

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

MEMORIES, BY PRAYERS

Memories take me back to the days of old

To schools for unlearning lessons retold

Where I’m frequently asked of what I want

I reply, to be happy - whenever I just can’t

Here, I’m told never to dwell in the past

Once over it is gone, never meant to last

The past is cruel, painful, it’s nothing good

Grow up, don’t be stuck in your childhood

Let it go, let it be consumed by the wind

Lost forever, be light, renewed in the mind

Returning to my present life by my destiny

Wide eyed to discover I am loved in plenty

Something dead in me has come alive

Risen to reconcile, learning first to forgive

For in parents, siblings and all in the family

in teachers, friends and the honest to be

there are no sins beyond my forgiveness

Then I shall find what I want - Happiness!

It invigorates me, pushes me on to sustain

the great mystery of life to ever remain

For I have something to give back to them

My well-deserved kindred souls to reclaim

I look far to the sunset for what I can offer

Memories, by prayers, don’t need answers

©Johnny J P Lee

4 May 2021

Photo Credit J. P. Lee