Dreary Daze

Night market stalls So much to see; Feel happy daze Curious eyes feast Seek a fond buy; Pretty things shout Street food vendor Pleasant fare delights; Long queue waiting Crowded street Hawker offerings; Brisk buy and sell Waylaid by stuff Hordes descend here; Night bazaar tempts Just for a while Try buying happiness; Walk the bazaar route Street side beggar Ragged marionette; Selling tissue packs Feeble old lady begs: "Give me two dollars please..." My wallet agrees Caught in the act, I sigh with heartache; Old man collects discards By this wayside Beggar sleeps dreaming; Sleeping in a warm bed Chinatown detour Sign of the times; Lonely old folks gather Faces from the past Lingering here now; Beyond expiry date Sad and dreary These haunting images; Intrude upon sensibilities My heart bleeds Distressed by such sights; Cruel squalor loiters Time has excavated Skeletons in the closet; Revisiting old haunts Now and then Becomes by and by; Broken pieces litter Poverty speaks In ugly tones; Shady undertakings To die is easy Living is so hard; Pain, suffering, disease Oh my soul, Let us go, you and I; See better sights Leon Enriquez 14 July 2014 Singapore