Unyielding

Springing as a salmon up the narrows

of the unforgiving hourglass' neck

Straining against's time's cruel harrows

and surrender's tempting beck

How swiftly does the darkness fall

Shadows fill the night-lit hall

Spirits crushed, passions flee

The lonely candle's flame is choked

By garrottes bloodsoaked - 

hearest thou their scornful glee?

The battle is far from over

Hold fast! 'midst fears adamant 

Lift high the standard, soldier

Look to your arms, ye valiant!

Keep the blazing torches burning

The flame of will must not die

The wheels of time are turning

Our time of glory is but nigh

Troubles and trials, come at me!

Who shall triumph? we have yet to see

For an inch of ground I will not yield

Passion my sword and grit my shield

My heart is steeled and burning bright

Once-smouldering embers have been revived

I fear not the chilling night

For my doughty companions stand at my side

Let it not be said that in terror we fell

with our backs to a pursuing foe

Let it be proclaimed by our funeral knell

That we live on still, in heart, mind, and soul

We only live - and die - but once

Seize the present, give wiles no chance

Endure, my beloved, and gallantly your race run

For golden dreams and desires await to be won

~ Josiah ~

Inner demons

the unforgiving sands of time
pour en masse
a raging flood through the narrow neck
of the hourglass

the past stifles
constricting like a noose
the old skin of a moulting cicada
struggling its old self to lose

with eager notes of merriment
the reaper's scythe hums and sings
severing past from present
sundering heartstrings

and torn a gossamer veil falls
coloured dull with dark memories
but few bright spots of happier times
windborne it drifts into unending eddies

within the gaping maw
of my personal cupboard
to clothe a massive host
of skeletons unnumbered

one day no doubt the trumpet call
shall lash out terrible and fierce
and out shall march my darkest secrets
armed with my deepest fears

Death Race

Phantom lilies in a murky pond
Memories distant of bygone
Days of a darker year
Far from near

The worsted clouds burst
From behind the sun
Forbidding and defiant
Smotheringly silent

The wild wind shrieks
Raging seeks
Lifelines to foul
Souls to devour

Traveller on a lonely road
Weak and barely clothed
Lies gasping by the wayside
With nowhere to hide

If life is a race to be run
If there's a prize to be won
For the horrors we must face
I call it 'Death Race'.

Imprisoned

Secrets guarded

A battle of wills

Kept by thirty two white knights

On two red hills

Secrets hidden

Frozen on a summer’s day

Gone with the wind

Exiled far away

Secrets six feet under

Like a dog’s buried bone

Place forgotten

A dream unknown

Secrets like a treasure

Precious unsaid

Astonishing revealed

Then for the world displayed

Secrets painful

Blood-oath bound

Pangs only inward

With thorns crowned

Secrets surrendered

Like a glass of teardrops dashed on a noontime sidewalk

Vanished, trodden into dusty trails

Sorrow’s empty void

Secrets sealed

With a thousand kisses

Bubbling as a mountain spring

Sallyport of a thousand blisses

Secrets seared on the heart

With memory’s branding iron

Under agonising lock and key

Damned to oblivion

Wanderlust

The skies are my mantle
My bed the earth's embrace
Music I hear from the thunder
Dewdrops uplift my face

Not for me the life of kings
Their burdens, cares and pains
Let them who riches crave
Be bound by their golden chains

Content a wanderer to be
A carefree soul
Whithersoever I wish
Thither I go

A Mother's Day Tribute

Twenty-two years ago I woke up to life

Bawling, struggling and tiny

Twenty-two years ago I woke up to love

Helpless, frail and puny

Twenty-two years later I'm still alive

Knowing my mother loves me

Twenty-two years later I can still love

Because my mother loved me

Twenty-two years of her life

She's broken her back for our family

Twenty-two years of her love

She's given to us daily

She's still doing it now

Her determination awes me

Perhaps I can never grasp whence or how

Her strength replenishes daily

Her hands are a blur, always in motion

She fights a battle for her children

Supporting her husband in his every endeavour

Unrivalled in energy and fervour

My everything I owe to my mum

I cannot say what I'd have become

But twenty-two years now and growing

has taught me the sum

of everything

is that Man without his Mother is nothing.

(Note: This was written for Mother's Day 2011)

~ Josiah ~

For the Joy of the LORD is my Strength

Life is like water

Our mind is the vessel

That gives life its shape

Life is like scenery

Our mind is the lenses

That gives life its colour

If my heart is joyful

Life will be joyful

If I view life with energetic eyes

Every day is a blessing

Filled with opportunities

For me to do a thousand meaningful things

Every frustration is a chance to show patience and kindness

Every challenge is a means to grow

Heartbreaks strengthen us

Temptations humble us

The greatest sea is but a puddle to him with the eyes of the eagle

And the mightiest mountain a molehill to him whose Strength

Is founded upon his Joy in the Lord.

And whatsoever ye do, do heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Col 3:23

~ Josiah Lau ~ written around 30th Jan 2011