Section Breaks

I
Chit-chat with a young poet
An uncompromised “poetess”
To most of you here
That’s your teacher’s teacher

II
Free-style writing I no longer believe in, he says
Yet, he welcomes small talk a lot
Claiming it could inspire him somehow
I, therefore, get into a conversation with him

III
Right from the kick-off
And throughout
I can’t help myself but speechless
I come to realise what I’ve been doing – from within and deep down

IV
How come I always have a hectic schedule?
Is it because work is not letting go?
Or, am I not letting go of money?
Why do I invariably depict teaching as a profession non-stop?

V
While I often look gauche in school
He’s achieving instant fame
His goal is to be one of the top Asian poets,
To be mentioned and quoted whenever folks look into exotic poems

VI
It ain’t your aim anymore, I argue
How come, he asks
“Your destination’s been reached a decade earlier;
Better look for a new one”

VII
He nods,
Abruptly turns from passive to proactive,
And interrogates, how about your destination?
Have you reached it yet?

VIII
I’m stunned
Those are the questions
That I dare not ask, let alone answer myself
But, I opt not to shun

IX
Like you, I joke
I’m constantly looking for, at and into the chemistry between words
Unlike you, however,
I’m now exiled from my place

Livid

Albeit infrequent
Every time when I pay a visit to my parents' home
- where I used to stay -
Mum would nag me to pack my stuff, leaving me no choice at all
Yesterday, my little enlightenment book on Haiku
Could no longer hide his thick - dusty and yellowish - body
From my mum's eagle eye
He opted not to resist, however
But fell prey to her claws
A bit too leniently, I reckoned

When I saw him I paused for a sec
A while too short to be noticed by my biological parents
I was silently thrilled to bits
For he'd been nowhere to find for years
But he must have found himself abandoned
Exactly like how I felt and feel
I saw myself amidst the silly season
When I came to learn filial piety in front of the telly during last summer
In retrospect, I honestly think it's fine
So long as you demand no more that I call this flat home

Status Quo

I
Been underwater for months
Finally on my way back to the surface
The journey meant to make you suffer
For, you see what you've been through
The worst-case scenarios not to be overcome
But you survived somehow
Driven by desire and its implications

II
Yet, sight shouldn't be counted on much
Light is being refracted
Time before oxygenated is not to be determined
Dying but not yet dead
A situation way beyond control
Hope for the best
Prepare for the worst

Giving up ain't my style

Dearest Class 3B,

Andy Lau's version: 天王之座, 等你黎坐
Mark Lam's version: 天王之Note屎, 等你黎Do

最近都俾左大量秘製既Handouts大家
e.g. "Connectives" 同埋 "Gerunds/Infinitives" 個 d
都知道大家覺得好work, 好正
不過阿Sir想係度不厭其煩咁 cliché 一句
就算Mark Lam既Handouts幾有用, 幾精闢
大家都係需要時間去digest架

As a result [依個Connective作文仲唔用? 三隻字喎],
Wait no more! Kick off your revision today!
29 teaching HOURS left (only)

Don't you plan to burn the midnight oil before exam!

a Heart Free to Fly

I
Moments of dread and darkness
A haunted road in dark blue
'm impatiently behind bars
Not the usual one, mind you
But the one confined by time
A mental journey so weary and tame
I kill time uncovering myself
In the hope of getting wiser


II
Be that as it may
The deeper I dig
The more I face timidity
Deep down I know
I ain't the person I used to be
The ambitious and bold "me" is greatly missed;
He's got helplessly lost the day before yesterday
For no more I find myself pursuing dreams far-fetched

III
'm just like the folks around me now
Becoming so I see no problem, really
For, the more I assimilate
The fewer disagreements they and I will have
But at times I doubt
Who is that angry, young man I see
Staring straight back at me?
How come my reflection's someone I barely know?

A Bridge Too Far

HK & UK
Toilet & To let
Highway & Taxiway
Reality & Fantasy
Read & Write
Suggest & Propose
Ambivalence & Acquaintance
Present participle & Past participle
Falling & Fallen
Male & Female
Good buy & Good bye
Filthy rich & Respectably broke
Diamond & Charcoal
Fancy food & Fast food
Hatred & Happiness
Cannot & Can
Fear & Flee not
Scar & Success

Companionship

[...]
But I came late to primary school,
Everyone was a pair.
I stood alone, feeling a fool
Wishing I wasn't there.

As I grew older and less of a brat
One friend wasn't enough
Plenty of interests taught me that
Friends are from varied stuff.

I need one to talk to [Herman Lai], have a laugh [Vincent Lau],
One for quiet times [Benett Rose]
One to walk with [Robert Beula], one I can chaff [Dominic, LSK]
One who enjoys my rhymes [Masayasu Yuki]

I'd like one with whom to travel all over [Keith Lau]
On foot [Hung Tsai], by air [KTC], or on buses [Patrick]
From England to Asia, and back to Dover
Someone who never fusses.

Ten friends are good, twenty is better
Especially when out of school
Contact by e-mail, or even by letter
That way, life is cool

※ a modified, abridged version from Exam Skills+ ※