Disappeared by boey kim cheng

in dedication- NUS/CSS 1995-1999

It happens that friends drop out of your life;
each year a face, a voice, lost, quietly gone
into a far country, each finding a way to survive.

You wonder about the few, whether they are alive,
the ones who matter, the maimed, the forlorn.
It happens that the angels slip unnoticed out of your life.

You dig up the letters and cards to revive
the smile, the touch of a hand, the lone
moment together, finding a way that will survive

the distance. Then you count the years, five,
ten, the absences, tes the defunct number, the wrong
address, the silence of the ones who drop out of your life.

You replay the scenes of love and strife,
remember the shared books, the loved song,
the souvenirs of friendship that will survive

the vanishing. You know that memory can thrive
on loss, and give them the lives you long to share,
the news of the dear ones who have dropped out of your life.
Yet you wonder, wonder, whether any of these will survive.

A Tale of Horizons...a prelude on 2 poems

Ordinary life has its horizon. A horizon makes visible, but it also conceals. Clearly visible is the day's routine with its familiar sounds, from the breakfast table to turning out the lights. Years are spent on the job. Our awareness switches from task to task, focussed on deadlines, tranquilized by busyness.

Sometimes the situation changes abruptly. In the aftermath, we scramble to make sense. Perhaps the sufferings of others afflicts us. Looking back, we realize how the crisis brought clarification. What was concealed now shows itself. Eyes once gripped by daily concerns return to the present.

The fool thinks he is the job, the exam grades, the unfinished essay, the investment portfolio, the half-completed resume. Conversation can wait; prayer doesn't happen; he writes a cheque, but has no time to serve. The fool forgets. God sends wake-up calls. From disaster may come gratitude and attention. What really matters is already present. We just forget.

jeanne schuler