Jalan Ampang

When old memories, creep up
on you like that
and when dust filters
through the light
and the past is
captured.
in a tiny capsule

It follows you back
into the still repose
of sudden silences
and the dogs barking
The hours drawn out
against the day, washed-out
like an overexposed polaroid

The taste feeds back into
the heart;
into an eternal place that
the years passing
cannot touch

And the days are drawn over; a
papery wrapping; tightly spun
around
that unchanging reality
Called memory

Oh! time has flown by
and we've gone
Our separate ways,
scattered and dispersed
along the lines
we have walked;

lost in the distant places
we've dreamt of,
wandered far and wide with
all of our fragile strength

We've been broken and torn
In the sinewy fibers
of the heart,
worn to the bone
in the porcelain
quality
of our frames

But we've been glued back,
healed
and then secreted away
into the treasure trove
...of a tree-trunk.

A child's hideaway - hearts delight
mended, like broken toys, which will come out
to play again; tonight