Sze-Leng Tan: poems

IT

IT started with ‘once upon a time’
IT happened without any warning
Oh... Your tough-loving tangerine
seeped right into my dry defenceless lips
the sweet surf of your song
............................................................across my petals

Sips of your surging saltiness
your smooth passing... tempting
your dreamy entrance... enticing
you bite me with your cold surprise

............................................................in my Oasis

Your purple dream... my cavity
Your forbidden skies ... my universe
Your careless smile ... my sanctity
Your forest blood ... my curse

..................suave
...........................swizzling
.......................evolving
................volcanic
.........................poisonous

.................and
.......................I didn’t
.................................want IT
..........................to ever
....................end.........

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Creative process: Inspired by a kiss, an unexpected one, this poem aims to accentuate the sensuality and seductiveness of human intimacy.



Butterfly

Your adrenaline rushes all over me
a surge of flutter...
                            a flush of fire...
                                                   the flapping of your flighty wings...
I am soaring with you...
                                  you are weighing me down...


Your mercury floods all over me
sprinting...spinning...
                              twisting... tearing...
                                                          hurling me around...
I am barely living...
                            under the shadow cast by your capricious swings...



Your penetrating mouth...
                                      my nectar...
your volatile destruction...
                                      my salvation...
your volcanic launch...
                                      my vital signs...



Your adrenaline rushes all over me
my life, my love, my line...
                                 the anarchic orderliness you invite...
                                                                                        the compound vision you perspire...

                                                                                                                                       

the fleeting frightfulness you compose...
that keeps me hanging on...
                                   my love, my lifeline...

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Creative process: I was inspired by the beauty and flightiness of an amazing insect, a butterfly.  I used it as a metaphor to express the affection for a neurotic yet attractive personality in a relationship which is addictive but insecure at the same time, just like the way one admires a butterfly from afar but being weighed down by its unsettledness.


The Eyes of a Leopard

I have a secret wish 
to be the only settler 
of your perilous wild land.
I have an imbedded need 
to demystify the enigma 
in your untamed blood.

In the eyes of a leopard...

living the dark wilderness
of the utmost depth of Africa ...
(your unsettled uncultivated misdemeanor)

don’t change...
don’t civilise...

In the eyes of a leopard...
dwell the bewildering vastness
of ever expansive empowerment...
(your unchecked unrefined misdemeanor)

don’t change...
don’t civilise...

The sound of the jungle...
resonates echoes pulsing with
the rhythm of my burning heart.
(you catch time with your eyes.)
The rich rainbow pallets
of the wild orchids rival
the tones of my feelings.
(you freeze heat with your stares.)
Ever changing.  Ever elusive.  Ever unpredictable.  Ever fluid.  Ever baffling.

I have a secret wish 
to be the only settler 
of your perilous wild land...
I have an imbedded need 
to demystify the enigma 
in your untamed blood...

I am returning to
the essence of who I am...
I belong to the breeze...
The sun... The moon...

The ocean’s embrace...
The call of the passion....
The beckoning of the free-spirits...
Sailing along with the wind....
Sleeping on the bed of the ocean....

I have a secret wish 
to be the only settler 
of your perilous wild land...
I have an imbedded need 
to demystify the enigma 
in your untamed blood...

I am returning to
the essence of who I am...
I belong to the breeze....
The sun... The moon...
The ocean’s embrace...
The call of the wild....
The beckoning of the free-spirit...
Sailing the wind....
Sleeping the bedrock....
I belong....
                  In the arms of the wild...
I see myself....
                    In the eyes of a leopard.

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Creative process: This poem uses symbolism to show my true nature as a defenceless, innocent, wild being through the perception of a beast.


December in Dubai

Dubai Dubai
a miraculous city that proved the impossible possible
juxtaposing the flourishing flora and barren desert.
sprawling skyscrapers and towering Burj Khalifa
the land of self-determination and Aladdin legacy

But it’s December once again...
The chilly night breeze replaced the warmth
of your caressing hands on my face.
The saturated air of cool sandstorm
The season that reminded me of how much I need you

Strolling along Sheikh Syed Street,
I vanished in the exotic crowds,
the hot streams on my cold cheeks,
the salt water at the corner of my dry harden lips.
the evading mind from all things reminded of you

I was strong in Summer...

Dubai Dubai
a miraculous city that proved the impossible possible
juxtaposing the flourishing flora and barren desert.
sprawling skyscrapers and towering Burj Khalifa
the land of self-determination and Aladdin legacy

Dubai Dubai
a metropolitan combining the best of the East and West,
a land of dreams and eternal sunshine,
with a heart, all stranded in the city of Dubai,
a heart of winter Safari that is dying to reach out.

Dubai Dubai
a man-made city transcending nature,
showcasing the stately beauty of Taj Mahal
with an ego hidden under the magnificence of Arabic Sun
a disguised pride with no signs of vulnerability at all cost.

I was strong in Summer...

Dubai Dubai
a miraculous city that proved the impossible possible
juxtaposing the flourishing flora and barren desert.
sprawling skyscrapers and towering Burj Khalifa
the land of self-determination and Aladdin legacy.

Strolling along Sheikh Syed Road,
I got lost in the exotic crowds,
the hot streams on my cold cheeks,
the salt water at the corner of my dry harden lips
the evading mind from all things reminded of you.

Yes, it’s December once again...
The chilly night breeze replaced the warmth
of your caressing hands on my longing face
Your passion lingers on my cold lips
Your persistence outlives your presence ...

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Creative process: the poem depicts the memory of my stay in Dubai, juxtaposing the magnificence and exoticism of the city, Dubai, with my loneliness and emptiness.


The Original Christmas

I am the dancing lights in your twinkling eyes... 
the spring on your feet that bounces and skips... 
I am the eraser of the hopelessness written all over your mind... 
the healer of the scars from your past... 

I am the reviver of your childlike sense of wonder...
the undoer of the mask of insecurity you hide behind...
I am the core essence of my own self...
emitting the joy from within...
I am the bright red and emerald green..
wearing my hair on piggy tails once again...
I am the innocent grin on my face...
singing the Christmas carol on top of my lung...

I am the dancing light in your twinkling eyes... 
the spring on your feet that bounces and skips... 
I am the eraser of the hopelessness written all over your mind... 
the healer of the scars from your past... 

I am the reviver of your childlike sense of wonder...
the undoer of the mask of insecurity you hide behind...
I am nothing but my own skin
singing the Christmas carol as its origin
I am every authenticity of my soul...
peeling away the layers of buried fear.
I am the candle glow, the star shimmer
from my rejuvenated sense of self...

I am the dancing light in your twinkling eyes... 
the spring on your feet that bounces and skips... 
I am the eraser of the hopelessness written all over your mind... 
the healer of the scars from your past...
I am the reviver of your childlike sense of wonder... 
the undoer of the mask of insecurity you hide behind... 

Let’s renew... let’s review...
as we celebrate the return to our Origin
Let’s rejoice... let’s make a choice...
as the peace of Christmas dawns on us
Let’s restart... let’s heed our hearts...

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Creative process:  The poem uses the occasion of Christmas to express joy which is a person’s true nature.  It encourages the grown-ups to return to being who-they-really-are, to revive the child within.

Sze-Leng Tan :
I am a meat-and-sweet-only eating poet living in Scotland. I am a hyper-optimist, a fake romantic, an impulsive compulsive yogi.  I am a good slut, a vulgar princess, an exotic ordinary.

Originally from Malaysia, I have a thing for writing for self-understanding and expression.  I started writing journals regularly and then began writing fiction on and off since about three years ago.   Besides poems, I have written short stories and I am working on a novel to remind us about our personal power.  I am also a Master’s Degree student of the English language in Glasgow University, a global trotter and truth-seeker.

Get a whiff of my oddity, a glimpse of my fantasy, a touch of my impossibility.