When two apples meet...

For Soo Tian.

"Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord."

--Jonathan to David


Apples


Two identical apples? No!
Do red apples from green apple trees grow?
Nay, I do not think it so.

Valerie says, "Light green and red don't match.
Under the skin, they look the same,
But taste different.
Perfect balance of raging red fire
And soothing greens of nature,
Or the favoured colours of Malays and Chinese."

Like a Gala's red, we wear our hearts on our sleeves;
Losing and finding ourselves without reprieve.

Like a scent that lingers in the room;
A symbol of health,
Or just to keep the doctor away
(Even in sickness).

Greens and reds do not from the same tree grow,
Yet an orchard may have both.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Peel away the layers. See the flesh that is not flesh,
Only sprayed to keep it fresh.
Upon the tree I lay no claim
Nor the grass or the barn or the well-worn lane,
But that I walked here once before,
Removed from my home, and wheeled to the store.
Shall I enjoy the beauty of a fleeting flower along the way:
Pulchritude gone tomorrow, only here today?
Halcyon days, teeming with more life than May,
Emerald fields fade to dark, dull grey.
Lonely hearts, each a gift of grace and light --
Fruit of the mercy of God on high.

Two identical apples know!

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I began writing this poem some two weeks ago when I was inspired by the apples Soo Tian and I took home from the al-Marjan Restaurant in KLCC. I finished it today.

Various influences found their way into the poem along the way. Among these were ideas from Valerie, U2's 'Like a Song', Li-Shia's perfume, the INTI College essay competition on peace and understanding in Malaysia, the tree with pink flowers opposite the Form Six block, sunlight on a bright morning, dandelions, summer, Ireland (home of U2 and the poet William Butler Yeats), and Chinese names.

The significance of the number of lines in each stanza will be readily discernible to anyone who enumerates these: The Godhead, Akouo, the camps Soo Tian and I attended together, TMsquared, the number of reunions Soo Tian and I attended, d'NA Stage 1, the number of times a group of people travelled half of the country to visit one person.