#instruthstories

[instruth]

FLY, OH FLY

The distant sky waits

Doesn’t sleep

Enemies at the gate

Flashes to keep

Halo on the head

Always present

Ancient book read

Messages sent

Rain from cloud

The river flows

Whispers aloud

War slows

Go! Go high

By and by

For it is nigh

Nature, Sky

To the Sky

Fly, Fly, Fly

My oh my

OH! FLY

© J P Lee

10 April 2022

Photo, J. P. Lee

[instruth]

EXILED TO PARADISE

being exiled to paradise

a broken spirit improvised

afflicted by wishful disguise

imprisoned under the dark sky

in multitudes of a thousand eyes

wanton imagination running wild

adult coming home as the child

retrieving the unfulfilled mild

failures, well compromised

wear a mask in paradise

The mask of insanity

demolishes all vanity

increases its security

without any self pity

ready in compliance

with fullest reliance

upon unreliable fate

when it’s far too late

For truth has many faces

none however embraces

any clear call for justice

a liar is unable to notice

he cares not nor bothers

the sufferings of another

lacks interest, doesn’t ask

by sanity, provides the mask

©Johnny J P Lee

12 April 2022

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

AS THE LEAVES RUSTLE

The rustling of leaves

A touch of nature’s softness

As the gentle breeze

Brush-paints a soothing caress

Silently, a refreshing breath of air

Surfs lightly by as flutters of feathers

Daintily walking, elegant lady fair

Rustling leaves and I, cuddle together

O! Whistling leaves, wind in my hair

We gallop the ground beyond the plain

Joy and laughter, showing off our flair

Away from the bustle, free where we lain

Gingerly, carefree in natural wary

Lovingly soft, worries to wrestle

Off heavy shoulders we will carry

Sweet melodies as the leaves rustle

©Johnny J P Lee

11 April 2022

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

I Learn About Love And Life

I learn much about love

and life

Beauty below and above

my life

Sky, water, lands, and Nature,

around my life

People, animals and plants,

in my life

I learn appreciation, gratitude, in the

midst of strife

Tenderness and Joy, to share with all

the glory of life

Love for all, in peace with all, blessings,

that is Life

©Johnny J P Lee

11 April 2022

Photos Credit, pa-ola123

[instruth]

ORIGIN OF MY GREAT MATADOR

I am in Madrid, April 2017… sipping coffee by the sidewalk ... sniffing an aromatic scent ... Hmm ... a conducive place to scribe a romantic letter to my wife ... I whip out my treasured pen ... "Darling, today I dress colorfully... ..." LO and BEHOLD! What's the commotion? Eeeek! A big bull on the loose ... Pandemonium everywhere ... people scramble ... tables tumble ... I am affixed ... Before I can get up to join in the fray, a horn pierces my side ... Ouch! Throwing me off my chair ... onto the floor, gliding ... bleeding ... oh my face ... a deathly punch ... I can barely see ... the pen from my hand slips away, flings high into the air ... but my eyes are on the growling bull right before me ... with steamy smoke, puffing from its nostrils ... the angry bull moves backwards ... digs into the ground ... charges for the kill ... I do the only thing I can ... I pray ... "Save me, O Lord" ... I look up and see my pen falling like a mighty sword from heaven ... piercing the bull on its head, right between the eyes ... spilling black inks, blinding the bull ... displaying a print clearly on its face ... a writing on the wall:

you live by the horn

the amount you thus measure

now weighs upon you

©Johnny Lee

13 April 2022

HAIBUN (Prose + Haiku)

Source: My Album (Photographer Unknown)

[instruth]

When The Lights Went Out

When the lights went out

Without a doubt

It came as a shock

Like being hit by a rock

No holding hands in the park

No romance, no kiss in the dark

No sweet whispers, just incoherent shouts

Wild search for the mobiles whereabouts

Fingers slid, dot dot, and there was light

Overcame the pitch black of the night

All headed for the circuit breaker box

Cats and dogs, howling wolf, and sly fox

The blue switch was down, pushed it up

Tripped down again, repeatedly, fed up

Too many advisers spoiled the hot fire

“Google the nearest electrician on hire!”

“No! Pull out the plugs, switch on again!”

Nothing worked, all lost, nothing gained

Sat, and shone the lights on each other

Brains stormed, haggled, one to another

Someone googled and made the call

Within twenty minutes, help was in the hall

“Repeated on and off, the breaker broke!”

New circuit breaker installed, oh blokes

This really happened, not fun poking

See the pictures, know I’m not joking.

© J P Lee

13 April 2022 (Midnight)

Photos by J. P. Lee

[instruth]

TIME AND AFTER

Yesterday is a memory in history

Tomorrow remains a mystery

Today is a gift, the present

What’s past is past

What’s ahead exists only in the mind

Today is the only reality

The past is a heritage

The present is an inheritance

For a future full of hope

The future is written

The past was just the onset

The present its path

The eldest buried the treasure

The elder is the archeologist

The youngest discovers it

The first planted a dream

The second lives in the dream

The third meets the dream maker

The labors work the fields

The farmers plant and water the seeds

The harvesters collect and store

The word was sent yesterday

It arrives today

It shall not be returned void

©Johnny J P Lee

12 April 2022

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

I Sit And I Reflect The Moments

I sit and I reflect

I pray and I recollect

The moments we spent together

That first time you gave me a flower

At the garden park on our very first date

I was nervous, anxious that you were late

Our first kiss when you gave me a rose

Thousands of love words to compose

Sitting by the candlelight I drifted away

In the spring, the angels came one day

Then all I have are precious times of us

Together, such loving times left to focus

Till I can feel you are still present to me

In the midst of my ever lasting memory

©Johnny J P Lee

11 April 2021

Photos Credit, Sanjogsonsand

[instruth]

I Live In A Little House

I live in a little house by the lake

And rub my eyes when I awake

Gosh! Am I still in my dream

Blur images vanishing on gleam

I get out for my usual walk about

To flush my mind off any doubt

Wow! I see at once all the smiles

Visit all my greeters, yards to miles

Grins from my face for every blush

Inspiringly, words rhyme in a lush

We sing from land, to water and sky

In melodious voices, tearfully to dry

The rocks clap in standing ovation

As the birds circle above in oblation

To offer our hearts to the heaven above

Grateful for the blessing of peace and love

© J P Lee

06 April 2022

Photos Credit, pa-ola123

[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]

AN INN IN YORK

There is an inn in York

beyond the haunting woods

silver table spoons and forks

tastes smack right to the mood

for all kinds of diners, or lovers

secluded, hidden, inexpensive

only no take away nor left overs

cozy, appropriately conducive

ideal nest for secret chats in private

I will take you there, my turtle dove

nightly shows assuredly passionate

feathers plucking, drunk to tipsy love

open fields, still brooks, bedroom galore

milk a cow till explorations go crashed

when the fast horse can charge no more

no regrets, tangled embrace unabashed

©Johnny J P Lee

16 July 2021

Photo Credit Andrew Tan

[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]

THE RUSTLING OF LEAVES

The rustling of leaves

A touch of nature’s softness

As the gentle breeze

Brush-paints a soothing caress

Silently, a refreshing breath of air

Surfs lightly by as flutters of feathers

Daintily walking, elegant lady fair

Rustling leaves and I, cuddle together

O! Whistling leaves, wind in my hair

We gallop the ground beyond the plain

Joy and laughter, showing off our flair

Away from the bustle, so free from pain

Gingerly cautious in natural wary

Lovingly soft, worries to wrestle

Off heavy shoulders we will carry

Sweet melodies as the leaves rustle

©Johnny J P Lee

11 April 2021

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

A PLEASANT MEMORY

Memory is the scribe of the soul, says Aristotle

It has magical powers like a genie from a bottle

It brings pleasantness, often mixed with tears

As it meanders and winds back to yester years

That is why we keep pictures, dolls and such

To look, to taste, to hug, smell and touch much

Memories and music, the theme of writers and composers

Are food for the soul, so testify the artists and singers

Alas! Memories are often not retrieved - unappreciated

Until they are lost, dissociated or dementiated

Remember then while you still can

Recollect, recall whenever you may

For there is nothing better than

To ponder while it is still day

Thus I reflect on the days of old

Stories I have told and retold ... ...

Schooldays are a garden growing wild

Bushy shrubs busy for a playful child

Many rooms, fashioned to a royal palace

In a game of chess to keep up the pace

Be the pawn prince calling the shot

Just need a pen, paper and an ink pot

Write well and please the school master

Lie true to him, confess later to the pastor

Polish the chalice, drink the blessed wine

Kneel at the altar to pray sweetly divine

Help the good padre run his godly race

In confession box take his priestly place

Hear the sins of ones not so my friends

For favors held at ransom without an end

Siphon donations from the church retreats

Give the hungry and beggars a fuller treat

Kind to the vagrants and the poor dullards

After school to roam far well remembered

Strict but humble is the school master

Striding along with his feather duster

Tilted tipsy house on stilts he duly resides

To ward off the flooding from the riverside

His stern look portrays his predicted mood

Good humor when he is out of the woods

Sweet poetry he drills by true wits and skill

Reciting three hundred verses just for the kill

Respecting well, swells me to willingly persevere

Remembrance sweeps my breast to duly endear

Stern, bent hot on hell but he is truly kind

Firm discipline begets a future in mind

It hurts him harshly pushing us into the slog

Results speak for itself as do obedient dogs

A short man with the fullest head I know

An encyclopedic library therein to show

A true mentor even to a truant untold

By a fine sample of love that I duly enfold

Enrichment through discipline by good examples

A kind and full heart will transform the impossibles

©Johnny J P Lee

21 June 2021, edited

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

[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