First Wahnam Poetry Contest Submissions--Closed

[Roxana]

Changes for Life

Something that comes and goes can be called a change.
Everything what has a beginning has already an end.
Thoughts which do not stay the same are also a change.
Even the joy what you just felt can change suddenly in to a pain.

But is there really nothing what will stay and is not changeable again?

• The mind doesn‘t know it.
• The eyes don’t see it
• The ears don’t hear it.
• Also the nose can’t smell it.

Just if you search deep in your heart you can find what always remains:

The real you, waiting to be awakened to change the real life for you.

[hillbrandr]

The World is crying red tears

Hello wahnam family,

I was just lying in my bed and it was around 1am in the night, and I couldn’t sleep.
Out of recent events around the world, pain was kind of pressuring at my heart and I had do get out of me.
So I stood up and had to write it down, just for me. And went back to sleep again.
As I was writing this text at first it didn’t think of the poetry contest at all only as I was almost finished I thought I could share it with u all that way
I tried to make it a little more poetic, but I know it is not much of a poetry
None the less hear is my text:


The World is crying red tears

I dream of peace, but the World is crying red tears,
The world is crying red tears because so many Humans can’t look
over their village,
over their district
over their country
over their continent.
All boarders should fall,
one nation survive
Worldnation!

The world is crying red tears because so many Humans can’t see
that we are all one people
all connected
made out of the same flesh and blood
that we are the same!

The world is crying red tears because so many Humans can’t see
That fear and greed closed their eyes a long time ago, instead of seeing the beauty of our world.
that everyone on this world wants to live in freedom, peace and harmony
that by looking away they are destroying our wonderful world piece by piece
so red tears will follow, out of pain & sorrow!

It’s time for all to brush our red tears away , by doing that we
can finally see, for the first time of human history
can open our hearts for everyone
can smile from our deepest hearts
can finally understand each other
can help each other with joy!

Finally we can all live in FREEDOM, PEACE and HARMONY

by René Hillbrand

[Matthew]

"Change is Becoming” by Matthew Wood

Time for another one...

"Change is Becoming” by Matthew Wood


From beyond the construct of time and space
Energy flows as the Supreme's grace
Let go and see your Original Face
A wondrous gift for the human race


From stillness, start and let chi flow
Get out of your way, now just let go
Allow your energy to grow and flow
The time for balance you will know


Cosmos Chi Kung so sublime
A glorious gift from the Divine
Beloved Sifu’s teachings shine
Enhancing lives - ours, yours and mine


We change, we grow, we are becoming
We learn, we train, our skill forthcoming
Expanding awareness, heavenly drumming
The Shaolin arts profoundly stunning

by Matthew Wood, September 2015

[Nick_R]

re: Monkey King is big and free.

Monday is a day for fun.
Tuesday I eat rice and Pork.
Wednesday is timeless and free.
Thursday is a little day of fun
Friday. Well i eat rice and pork too.
Saturday is God.
Sunday we rest well.
Zen.

[Dominic Roche]

Love is change

How does your life change when you’re in love and feeling free?
Your heart feels warm and wraps your cherished ones in glowing love
You fly free like a bird as you day flows by
The wind is your friend and sets your soul aloft
As the day ends you know all is alright and life is true and pure
This will never end like the universe it is forever and was there before
Love is change, to change is to love.

[glasswall]

You Wei

Gallant salutes homage the source
Guarding emperors before generals
astride a limber ephemeral course
Sunken lines would bridge the shock
Ever closing
striking
gripping
force

Felling the plum flower blossom
Spring kicks at chilly dawn
where horses lead from gables' flotsam
Kings would turn to stone or flock to
our stables
From empires
awesome

By grace pity mercy moved
Yet by courage balanced yin
Masters offer void and soothe
dust motes from eyes erstwhile blocked
Thusly poise
Proven

Changes will what changes may
Forever lost and found within
The endless forge of Wu Wei
Here and now and then unlocked
By You Wei

[Tim]

'Let go, let go let go'

`Let go, let go let go’
until there’s nothing
that’s all there is to do
let go, let go let go
until there’s nothing to do,
then there is nothing,
nothing to let go,
nothing to do,
nothing…

[Damian Kissey]

poem from Jude Kessy

MAN , NIRVANA AND REINCARNATION : THE SCIENTIFIC EQUATION


I = MC2 ; Where
I = The human person
M = His worldly concern
C = His spiritual concern


Sum total of person’s potential equals a constant K ,
I = MC2 = K .
If M >>> c then I = Mc2 = K , Person A
If C >>> m then I = mC2 = K , Person B


Person A is massive , static , sluggish , a denser conglomeration of atoms .
M , his worldly concern overrides his spiritual conern.
Person B , approaches pure energy , more fluid , more spiritual.
If there is a Gate of Nirvana , made up of a ‘ thin silver foil ‘,
Person B has better chances of passing through than Person A ;
The latter’s rate of atomic collision , deflection and rebound being greater than the former’s .


To enter Nirvana , Person A will have to reincarnate the composition of his ‘ persona-equation ‘ ;
to decrease M and increase C . To have more spiritual rather then material interests .
This scientific notion , please heed no literal quotation !

[Fräänz]

If you can, enjoy the german version. The style is lost in translation..

Kannst du es hören?
Ich höre nichts.
Kannst du es fühlen?
Ich fühle nichts.

Eine seichte Brise zieht durch die Wiese.
Kaum spürbar, doch wunderbar angenehm.

Das Säuseln wird stärker und kräuselt das Haar.
Staub und Sand tanzen in Figuren übers Land.

Manch einer riecht vielleicht den Duft von Abenteuer,
Oder des Orients?, eines fernen Kontinents?
Nun bläst der Wind reger, lässt die Halme sich wogen, in großen Bögen,
Schlussendlich ein Tosen und Toben,
Ein entfesseltes Ungeheuer!

Hüte fliegen, Vögel nicht mehr,
Ebenso Tüten, das Laufen fällt schwer.

Die Kanonade beginnt.
Die Soldaten drängen voran,
Groß, klein, dick und dünn,
Getrieben von einer ungeheuren Kraft
Sekündlich ändern sie die Richtung,
Strömen vorwärts mit Wucht,
Stürmen hernieder mit Macht,
Mit Eifer eilen sie fort in entladener Wut,
Ein Andrang! Ein Prasseln! Ein Heulen!
Doch geben sie sich am Bollwerk geschlagen,
Zerplatzen, zerfließen in einem Trommelwirbel, vergießen ihr Blut.
Die meisten von ihnen werden im Erdreich begraben,
Dennoch verebbt nicht die Flut.
Dramatisch alles begleitet von Lichteffekten und donnerndem Bass.
Welch ein Dröhnen!

Die Rettung naht, die Reihen werden durchbrochen,
Der Himmel klar auf, der Angriff ist gebrochen.

Alles ist nass,
Trotzdem hört es auf zu föhnen.

Von weiß nach grau,
Von grau nach weiß nach blau.

Am Ende wieder Stille. Und was kommt dann?

Can you hear it?
I cannot.
Can you feel it?
I cannot.

A shallow breeze floats over the meadow,
Nearly non-noticable but still delightful and pleasant.

The whispering grows stronger and curls the hair.
Dust and sand dance in figures across the land.

One may smell the fragrance of adventure,
Or oft the torient?, a far away continent?
The wind blows more brisky, makes the stalks welter in large waves
Finally a bluster, roaring,
An unleashed monster!

Hats fly, birds don’t anymore,
Bags do, walking gets tough.

The cannonade begins.
Soldiers push forward,
Big, small, thick ad thinn,
Driven by an enormous force,
Change directions every second,
Stream ahead with impact,
Surge down down with power.
With eagerness they hurry on in a discharged fury,
What a rush! What a patter! What a howl!
They get worsted on the stronghold,
Bursting, deliquesencing in drum roll, shedding their blood.
Most oft them are burried in the ground,
Yet the flood does not ebb away.
Dramatically accompanied by light effects and fulminating bass.
What a roar!

The rescue is near, the lines are broken,
The sky is getting clear, the assault is defeated.

Everything is wet,
The blowing ends.

From white to grey,
From grey to white to blue.

In the end silence again. And after that?

[Damian Kissey]

Another poem from Jude Kessy , about his tribe , the kadazan-dusuns of Borneo

SINAKAGON FROM LIWAN

Irreproachable their days waned,
Not without those last
Scathing words for the children,
Who seemed to forget

More than what they could
Themselves vaguely remember
Therein passed mothers and fathers
Who toed mountain hobbles,

And waded the furious rapids-
Their grumbles saved
For the unborn children
Whose fate to raise an unborn nation.

Countable their days waned,
Not without wary
Eyes squaring the future –
Turbulently turned and tossed

The old ways that served them well :
They hosted Kings’ and Sultans’ emissaries ,
Mat Salleh , pink-skinned tuans ,
And cold bushido-warriors …

Irretrievable their days waned,
Without written power , their voices
Fell by the wayside , shyed by
An awesome revolution of

Minds and methods unpouring
Its might before their bamboo doors…
Hesitantly they took up the yoke ,
Savage animals they supposedly were ,

They ploughed their humble fields,
And sprouted a new generation ,
Grappling but surely a new journey .
Someday , godwilling , we shall overcome .


NB: “Sinakagon” is kadazan-dusun for “Kindred” and Liwan is their ancestral village .This poem is about the times and changes facing the kadazan tribe of Borneo from ancient times , headhunting days , colonial era , WW2 , leading to post war independence and the present times . Attached group foto from 1938 ( Jude’s grandparents couple extreme left standing ), our late father as a boy ( one of Sifu’s first student in Borneo ) sitting second from right . And Sifu in full kadazan attire. BTW all footnotes and accompanying pictures to Jude's poems are added by myself .

[Damian Kissey]

Zen , Change , You wei and wu wei

Zen : Just Be , or Not To Be

Cat eats rat, naturally
Wolves crush bones
Gulls fly south in winter
Elephants amok if provoked

Tigers roar , snake hiss
Grunting boar , swerving fish
Crickets chirp , chickens cluck
Swaying trees , flowing breeze

Side-crawling crabs , segmented worm
Beetle buzz , magic mushroom
Parasite fungi , symbiotic bacteriae
Amoeba dance , viral flare

Durian aroma , floral plethora
Fauna flora , terra and aqua
Singing angels , dancing fairies
Spinning atoms and spiral galaxies

But man ?
Forever worrying
Intellectualizing and joyless,
loitering in countless cycles of Samsara…..

[wonderlusterer]

What really changes?

What really changes?
Is it the caterpillar that morphs into a butterfly, full of elegance?
Or is it the mountains, strong and sturdy?
Strong and sturdy as a rock?

What really changes?
Is it the seasons, which turn green and red and green again?
Or is it the skies, infinitely vast?
Infinitely vast and eternally blue?

What really changes?
Is it each new day, newer than the last?
Or is it the Tao, the same for all things?
The same for all things and for all time?

-Daniel

In this poem, I try to invite the reader to contemplate on the things we normally associate with change, such as a caterpillar or the seasons in a year. Are they really changing? Or is it simply a temporary change, in a cyclic fashion, continuously repeating itself for as long as we exist?

What about the things that seem forever unchanging, such as a mountain which shifts over millions of years, permanently alters the landscape of our planet?

Are we really changing? Or are we just like the seasons, making a big leap forward, and then several steps back to where we were again?

[wonderlusterer]

DragonPaint.jpgThis is just a fun piece of poetry I tried to write. It is a "freestyle" piece of literature, not fixed to any number of syllables, rhyming patterns, and bears no particular symbolic meaning. I am also trying to implement a sort of pseudo-personification technique where I capitalise some words to make them feel like characters in my story, such as Good Health, whom we all certainly welcome. The overall feel is inspired by the "auspicious writings" of the older golden eras of China, filled with imagery of prosperous times, grand beasts, and grander heroes

Wondrous occasion, the Tiger roars
Lion and Dragon dance
To herald in Good Health
Happiness and Prosperity ensue

Heroes from North and South
Esteemed and Chivalrous
Come together to celebrate
Peace among all peoples

Good Food and Merriment
Gongs, Flute and Drums
Ring sweetly through the air
Let us welcome Changing Times

Image taken from Chile Doctor, chileunderground.com - Happy (Chinese) New Year! Time for Some Chinese Goodies - 3rd February 2011

[Matthew]

"Change" by Saskia Wood

I'd like to include a poem written by my 10 year old daughter Saskia which she wrote unsolicited when I told her I was submitting a poem myself.

"Change" by Saskia Wood

Change can be a tricky thing
Not something that can be organised
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad
You can build your future and reality
It's not all down to fate!
Just use your mind and energy
And learn to recreate
The past is past
But now is present
Use your wisdom to
Learn how to deal with change

"Change" by Saskia Wood Age 10, September 2015

[Matthew]

"What is Change?” by Matthew Wood

Deadline approaching... so here's another...

"What is Change?” by Matthew Wood

Change goes in cycles, some say, but
I wonder what change really means?
To really know change
Do I need a start and an end?
What if there is no start and there is no end?
What changes then?
If there is just being, what changes when?
From no-change to change
From change to no-change
Is this a start and that an end?
Or this an end and that a start?
Or an eternal continuum
Universes apart?
If being is changeless
Is change then being-less?
I’m open to changing my ideas about change

By Matthew Wood, September 2015