Nostalgia - Owen Habel Lwanda

At the barber shop, the barber asks where I come from.
I say “Kenya.”
He nods politely and drapes a shawl around my shoulders.
I want him to ask another question. Which part of Kenya? What was it like? Why did you leave?

The wind returns; my little courtyard is green - Li Yu

The wind returns; my little courtyard is green and overgrown,
The willows seem to have grown again this spring.

Belfast Confetti - Ciarán Carson

Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining
     exclamation marks,
Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And the
     explosion
Itself — an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst of
     rapid fire …

To God - Giovanni Battista Cotta

“There is no God,” the fool in secret said: 
“There is no God that rules or earth or sky.” 
Tear off the band that folds the wretch’s head, 
That God may burst upon his faithless eye! 

Shattering Mirrors - Lauren Li

I always thought that she was happier here than there
Her home without love, without life
We would have shared the same happiness, but
My happiness and my love
She took it all away

A pilgrimage to Angkor (extract) - Suttantaprija Ind

Oh, how pitiful is the sacred Singha, built by our ancestors
Once so lively, as if brimming with movement.
Now broken, collapsed upon the earth
What a tragedy, to see you rendered powerless.

Arguing Over Where To Live In Singapore - Toh Hsien Min

You’d lived in Tampines and Pasir Ris,
so you’ve a base of knowledge to proclaim
with no room for debate that Bedok is
the liveliest town centre in the East.

Love simple and pure - Juste Olivier

I love you, so sweetly dressed
In tenderness and love;
To sit with you, I'm blessed
As one from heaven above.

Fleeting Joys - Ismaaciil Mire

Downpours of rain, dry valleys newly watered,
Hillsides resplendent with new verdant growth
And clans assembling under and acacia tree –
On such things were my thoughts and affections set,
But this world provides no lasting satisfaction.

Safety - Evelyn Underhill

Most wonderful, most deep security
That circles in the soul at hours of pain.
When the assaulting harms
Of death and love and treachery set on,
When we must con
The dreadful lessons of mortality;