Born Again

A man once born to the love of two,

Was born again in a distant land,

On soil that reeks of the lives he took,

Redeemed in foreign blood and sand.

In deserts where the winds of dread,

Wraps around his bleeding hand,

And the frozen faces and woebegone hearts,

Of his brothers’ beleaguered band.

At the end of time, at the edge of life,

As the seconds slip away from hand,

Smiling down with valor untouched,

His tireless brothers around him stand.

A man once born of the love of home,

Was born again of grit so grand,

In a battlefield in the endless hills,

Of a faraway ominous land.

Copyright by Delilah Das

Can You Feel

I've wondered

How many people

Noticed the sadness

Behind my smile

If they noticed; they didn't say.

If only they knew

The loneliness I feel inside,

Misunderstood or being used,

Utter despair which engulfs me,

Smothering; suffocating me,

Tearing, ripping apart my soul,

Agony I feel, and hide.

Can you feel my pain

When you look into my eyes?

Can you feel the darkness

That consumes my thoughts?

Can you feel the sadness

That craves to be comforted?

Only if you were able

To feel my torment for a little while...

Copyrighted by Tan Nguyen

The Grains of Forever

I stand alone by the ocean,

I hear the sand running down,

Grains rattling against each other,

Carrying moments, never waiting,

As I stand alone, breathing

In an endless quietude.

My mind feels like the ocean, vast and quiet,

My heart like the sand, counting days and night,

A moment forever waiting, patient and quiet,

Yet running away in grains, oblivious to my presence,

As I stand alone, listening to the sand.

Copyright by Delilah Das

Precious Regrets

Lessons are forever,

There's always more to learn,

Student for life; of life,

Discovering secrets,

Exploring deep into the core.

Little by little,

Like a jigsaw puzzle,

Putting pieces together,

Seeing the bigger picture,

Slowly; secrets are revealed.

Knowledge is understanding,

Able to apply patience,

Tolerating others, situations,

Dealing with problems,

Handling circumstances,

In a more productive way.

Precious regrets,

Irreplaceable remorse,

Bad feelings; inner voices,

Saying no mistakes are made before,

Without reviews these feelings,

There'd be no lines drawn,

Once crossed; difficult, to recover.

Without feelings or emotions,

Even the most negative of reviews this,

Is built within all of us,

A warning system,

Alerting us, something is wrong,

I for one, misused this function,

Misunderstood; even accused,

Thinking it was against me,

Making me confused and lost.

Copyrighted by Tan Nguyen

The Eyes of a Man I Know

There's a world deeper 

Than the obscure depths of the cerulean ocean

And the floor underneath that conceals a destructive heat,

Calm, colorful, lively yet cold,

In the eyes of a man I know.

There's a bitter threshold to the forbidden abyss,

That reeks of moss in crevices unhealed,

Like the open flesh of a fresh red wound,

Now plagued by rust that tastes of despair,

In the eyes of a man I know.

There's a sky brighter than the bed of the midday sun,

And wings mightier than an eagle's embrace,

And words sweeter than a bee's nectar

Embedded in the depths of a flower called Hope,

In the eyes of a man I know.

Copyright by Delilah Das