KEEPING WATCH

A spinning cogwheel has but little choice
Except to turn, few hearing its tiny voice
Of a complex mechanism, just a tiny part
Yet continuing functionality is at its heart
And in pristine condition, free from grime
A lifetime of duty, to keep accurate time

The round face is what the world will see
Behind the scenes, all driven by a battery
A finite life once the marriage has begun
But also cousins who depend on the sun
There are still ancestors of an older kind
With spring mechanisms one has to wind

We’ve seen this picture too many times before
same old game we know the score
pathological hatred fed by fear and propaganda
in service of a remorseless barbaric agenda

Deranged justification for a so-called holy war
depravity rage brutality and gore
cruelty and sickness for all to see
hellbent on killing all Jews from the river to the sea

(Chorus)
I know it's been awhile since we spoke
but here lately i've been thinking alot about you
and how we used to be so close i don't know what it is but my heart can't seem to forget you
I think about the times we shared and everything that we went through back then
we had our ups and downs but somehow we always manged to pull through
I miss those late-night conversations that we always had
your words still ringing in my head
No other guy seems to understand me the way you did

It's half past six and I'm starving;
The money's on the side;
I don't want quiche or salad -
I fancy something fried.
Dad will go and get it;
It's tasty, salty, hot:
We don't have to cook it;
You can buy it from the shop.

Good old Dad's back home,
The vinegar smells just great:
We tear open the steaming parcel
And spread the contents on a plate.
Forget your Indian takeaways
Or Chinese with fancy dips;
On Fridays only this will do:
Yummy Fish 'n Chips.

MEAN HALLOWEEN

It’s all just for Halloween they said
And pointed me to a changing room
I doubted that it was to be a contest
Yet no-one is listening to my protest
With all the lights off, it’s total gloom
Even though I’m made to look dead

I’m posing with several pumpkins now
And a mask with glowing lights for eyes
An old crushed top hat completes it all
All this nonsense at the very end of Fall
Answer the door and they get a surprise
I’ll get this off me, but don’t know how

I want feel normal,
I want to get out of bed and not feel sick,
I want to not overthink everything I do,
I want to be happy with myself,
I want to be able to talk to people without getting anxious,
I want to not feel guilty for eating,
I want to not hurt myself everytime I feel I’ve done something wrong,
I want to be okay.

The heritage village
with the mixture of diversity
of the street where I grew up
in the Hollywood glamorous
where do I see myself belong to
with the different images of
the color tone of skin
The mother tongue that I speak
The ancestral history that I represented
To learn the true value
To showcase where it began
I found my heritage came
with bravery and beauty possess
To carry out the beautiful legacy of the culture
I am humbled to call myself
ABC -American-Born Chinese

RAINSTORM

Hey, I’ve not been caught in a rainstorm
I wanted to be out here today, like this
Free to breathe, and feel rain on my face
Let it wash regrets away, leaving no trace
Pushing all doubts right off that precipice
And happy inside, whether cool or warm

Grab the chance to see clearly once again
Enough being blanketed in shades of blue
That has me wrapped tight in this cocoon
Never knowing morning from afternoon
Not even believing what was really true
Like an old fashioned swirly window pane

THE YEARS IN BETWEEN

At first, there was fun and laughter
Youthful exuberance, happy faces
Always smiling from head to toes
Days with so many twists and turns
All bereft of any cares or concerns
It was a life that led me by the nose
Into many new and exciting places
Unlike the times that followed after

INTAKE ROAD

In this old photo, trembling in my hand
I’m there, walking up the dim grey street
Old houses, now - as they always were
Two up two down terraces, now a blur
Up ahead, the wheel makes it complete
Everything’s gone now, you understand

It was a community that is now dispersed
Solid working families, partners in coal
Then a revolution came and all was lost
But loss of identity was the greatest cost
Mines all shut down, and it took its toll
It was if our whole county was cursed