A Memoir of a Poet

Weather Forecaster

Composed by Denis Toh (Date: 29th July 2005, Time: 10.01pm)

Note: Just for plain fun

Mountain peaks breathe echoes of melody

Over upland it bears with sweet memory.

Flickering birdsong resonates with heath air

A bank of verdant moorland rises to distant ridge

Lush yet anciet tree entrenches near the edge

There a weather-beaten owl finds his lair.

Disguised he takes wing through swelling heather

To determine the nature weather.

For him, it's fresh natural news

Like morning's moisture beads and dews.

Until he has spread the news to animal kingdom

Or else he's bored to tears in boredom.

Then he soars towards clear blue skies

No more in disguise.

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh

Message in a Bottle

Composed by Denis Toh (Date: 19th July 2005, Time: 12.39am)

Dedicated to my Immortal Beloved

On a desolate morning shore

I write her name on the sand

But it's wiped away by whims of waves.

A withered wind whispers to me to relinquish.

Yet I ignore it and write her name once more.

In vain, the tides come and wash it away.

My endeavor dissolves in heartless sea

And the amused sun derides for my foolishness.

Still unwearingly I write her name again

Not on the sand but a parchment.

I place it into a bottle and fling it to open sea.

The bottle floats and shines in sunlight,

Slowly drifting towards sunset.

Silently I watch it courses and disappears from my sight.

Stranded in a distant land - far away from her

Maybe in distance but not in heart

For the message in the bottle

Sealed with my nostalgia and kiss

Tells her how much I love and miss her.

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh

Ode to Life (6th edition)

Composed by Denis Toh (Date: 9th July 2005, Time: 1.22pm)

Inspired by Beethoven's 'Choral' Symphony in D

Dedicated to the victims of 7/8 tragedy

Life worth living as hope soars high.

Assurance sowed, promises future is nigh.

Let's give life wings to fly

So heaven will not pass us by.

Hand in hand, celebrate life in pleasure!

Be merry! Ignore pain and disregard failure.

Let them be forgotten

Let them be rotten!

Dwell not in past,

Leave it to dust!

So come on now, unload your trouble

Don't let them double!

So take my hand as we move

Onward to the future we love -

No more tears, sorrow and be gone with tease

Where everyone be at peace with peace!

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh

Your Voice (5th Edition)

Composed by Denis Toh (Date: 7th July 2005, Time: 2.42am)

Inspired by Sergey Rachmaninoff's 'Vocalise'

Your voice, ever sweet and mellow

Breaks the chains hold me in hollow.

My heart opens at your voice

Like the roses blossom in poise

At the kiss of the dawn.

Like a zephyr your voice is

My heart reminiscent of the ears of corn

Ripple under your light breeze.

Even valley, grove, hill and field

Wood and mountain yield

When your voice elates to my bliss!

For your voice I thrive

Faithfully forever to prove

My undying and everlasting love!

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh

Spring of Love (2nd Edition)

Composed by Denis Toh (Date: 6th July 2005, Time: 12.12am)

Inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Symphony in E minor

Tha larks preen their wings

Chirping with cheerful songs.

Cuckoos sing verses

From the rim of their nests.

Soon turtle doves and finches join them in song!

The brooks at the breathe of zephyrs

Stream softly with sweet melodies.

Pleasant flowers blossom by the brooks,

And green leaves and branches rustle

In the trees as the genle breeze blows.

Gaily, shepherds and goatherds play bagpipes

As satyrs and nymphs dance to the rustic and merry music

Pixies and fairies waltz on the flower-strewn meadow.

Together they sing and dance beneath

The fair spring sky in all its glory,

Welcoming the first spring of love!

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh

Her Tears (3rd Edition)

Pensively composed by Denis Toh (Date: 30th June 2005, Time: 5.37pm)

She awoke startled

Found herself unprotected

Against the velvet wind on dark horizon

Intimidated, she crawled with her reflection

Horror scampered through her vein

When thunder tore the sky apart in the rain

And lightning swallowed the stars!

Breathlessly she lamented in discordant air,

Quietly on the shore, alas, she wept

As the sky turned grey and swept

Her teardrops to salt sea.

From afar, I tasted her salty tears

Her crying echoes at my ears!

I collasped and, under the night of stars,

I shed my tears for her...

Copyright Protected @ 2005 Denis Toh