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Poems for the Mind

Mankind. What a disgrace!
by : Erik Khoo

The night was silent with a starlit sky,
Few brave men were armed to die,
As one they stood that starry night,
Getting ready for the fight,
The trumpet sounded, cries were heard,
One thing stands, they were gird,
Soon both sides, the brunt they bare,
Till all were dead, the sky they stare,
Has man then understood,
that war is never never good?

The night was silent with a starlit sky,
There were many there, oh my,
Perched on horses, armed with bows,
The same old story, here it goes,
The trumpet sounded, cries were heard,
This is certainly too absurd,
Plenty died that night alone,
(Giving me chills to the bone),
Has man learnt then at this night,
it doesn't matter who is right?

The night was silent with a starlit sky,
A soldier bade his wife good bye,
Tears trickled down his cheeks this day,
Will he get back? Maybe nay,
He picked up his weapon and marched along,
Singing aloud the battle song,
Things will be different that night, oh yes,
More will die, the case I rest,
So again we visit the battle field,
Weapons again man will wield.

The night was silent with a starlit sky,
Brutality again, why why why?
Women were tortured,
Children too suffered,
Those who escape, they were sought,
Do they stop this enormity? I think not,
They burn homes down as signs of power,
As remaining villagers sat and cower,
Things are getting worse oh dear,
Danger to come, that I fear.

The night was bright or was it day?
Man scattered in disarray,
This time, nuclear weapons were employed,
Mines and traps were also deployed,
Bombs were released killing plenty,
(And trust me so, it isn't dainty)
A bang was heard, and all fell silent,
The whole of Earth was swept by current,
This time none were left to mourn,
For the planet Earth was already gone...

Comments : This poem was written by me during my college year. I took Year 12 English that year (1998). It was and is the best subject I've ever taken. This poem was hence born on a special day when I suddenly obtained inspiration. I don't think I can find motivation to write anything near that currently but I'm still trying. The repetition is to symbolise the nature of humans who will keep on making mistakes and never learns.

Friends Who Care
by : Erik Khoo

There are millions whom we meet,
in this busy world we live in,
But only few will become friends,
and even fewer - best of friends,
Occasionally we tend to find,
a friend who really cares,
Who warms your heart in every way,
Who makes you feel important,
and be with you in times,
of happiness and melancholy,
Who makes you think,
What will I do without this person?
These friends are a rare stock,
to find in this world today.

But these people do exist,
Their intentions are blessedly good,
They share your pain,
They share your gain,
They cry with you when you are sad,
Laugh with you when you are glad,
They listen to you and give their thoughts,
And inspiration they give lots,
Although they I may just thank,
But they don't know - how high they rank,
in this little heart of mine,
 to meet a person still so fine,
Maybe, maybe one day,
Them I'm able to repay.

Good friends are forever that is true,
Break up friendships yes they do,
But later on they patch up things,
Cos they know what friendship means,
Bad they are sometimes it may seem,
But later, our hearts they redeem,
For true friendship is gold itself,
More than gold can provide wealth,
True friendship is more than all,
It keeps us up and stops our fall,
When we call friends come to you,
Comforting words that are due,
And this is what they really do,
Giving you strength to start anew.

Comments : Although not very good (but what the heck), this poem was the first ever while I was in Australia. I came up with it after discovering (even further) how friends play a vital role in our lives. It is through them that you gain knowledge, happiness and enjoyment. Nevertheless, others (like family members) still play a vital role if not a more important role. This poem is special in a way that the first few lines and verse do not rhyme. It only starts to rhyme gradually in the second verse onwards. This is so to symbolise the growth of friendship which is slow but will eventually be so strong it takes great powers to shatter the ties. Written sometime in May 1999.

War-The End of Mankind?
by : Erik Khoo

The night was dark with a starless sky,
Few brave men were armed to die,
Carrying spears against their foe,
All was set and ready to go,
The signal went, blood was spilt,
None at all was haunted by guilt,
Family ties were ripped asunder,
As the losing side bow and surrender,
But is this the end, one may ask?
Have man fulfilled his mandatory task?

The night was dark with a starless sky,
In the battlefield again they would try,
Perched on horsebacks, armed with bows,
Waiting anxiously on their toes,
The signal sounded, arrows went flying,
Screams were heard, a few were dying,
Some weren't dead, but stared at the sky,
Writhing in pain till the time they die,
But is this all, one may ask?
The plans they engendered from dawn till dusk?

The night was dark with a starless sky,
The soldier bade his family goodbye,
The signal went, machine guns were fired,
The enemy's army had already crumbled,
But the commander desired absolute glory,
And thus indluged in scenes so gory,
Women were disemboweled, babies were tortured,
Yet the soldiers never faltered,
And one may ask, is this all?
Before the time the humans fall?

The night was bright with a starless sky,
Nuclear weapons were used, oh my!
People died in bunches and heaps,
As ignorant humans accomplishes feats,
People agonised tremendously,
As they surrendered to will obediently,
A loud boom sounded and all was quiet,
Could ity be that the humans were tired?
But there was none to weep and mourn,
For the human race was already gone...

Comments : The original poem to Mankind. What A Disgrace! I coughed up the latter because I couldn't access the original copy when I was in Australia.

The Space Traveller
by : Erik Khoo

I’ve been, I’ve gleaned, I’ve seen,
But never one so mean,
The residents of the planet Earth,
Were evil, greedy right from birth,
I know because I walked with them,
To witness lives that were condemned,
You might think I went sight-seeing,
But only to probe their dirty being,
Here an account I share with you,
The nature within I know imbue.

A child I saw walking aimlessly,
In him I felt immense agony,
And then I realised what had happened,
From birth he grew up, a child abandoned,
I offered him a place to stay,
In which to keep warm night and day,
He heard me, staggered back and fled aghast,
No love, no friendship, oh …. no trust,
Ergo I went in search for others,
And met with two quarrelling twin brothers.

They were fighting for property,
Dividing it without sagacity,
“The house, the garden, the gold are mine!”,
“Oh, no they’re not you dirty swine!”,
Then they fisted each other thoroughly,
Until they were both totally bloody,
The police came and they were caught,
And hence lawyers they now sought,
The lawyers said “Oh, don’t you worry!”
“All we need is your legacy!”

I departed as quickly as could be,
To witness more that I could see,
A group of gentlemen then I saw,
Happily sharing an expensive whore,
Then a game was played (nuff said),
To decide who was to ‘go to bed’,
One of them won and ‘shooed’ the rest,
And rough he was, the whore detest,
She then grew terribly afraid,
Shot him high and low and left him dead.

I walked some distance and spied a man,
As fast as wind the human ran,
The animals to which he cruelly attended,
Were mad with rage and now protested,
They butted, they kicked, they bit, they tore,
Ripping the farmer to the core,
They saw me then and told me that,
The farmer was – truly bad,
He burned, he hit, slashed, he kicked,
Their pleadings (oh…) he did not pay heed.

Then I came across two head-of-nations,
Their face showed not the slightest patience,
“To war we go and enemies we are!”,
“I won’t stop till your citizens char!”,
Nuclear weapons were employed,
Mines and troops were then deployed,
Frightened I was, I bade goodbye,
My space ship launched into the sky,
As far away I tried to fly,
I need not witness the planet die…

Comments : A happy find. I was going through my literature exercise book just the other day and was sweetly surprised by this poem I wrote during my college year. This poem was written during a test and was also one of my favourites.

Erik's Collection of Sensible Quotes