Let It Bern

On the hunt, searching for a mate, got you a list of requirements,

Perfect height, smile, weight, hair colour, focused solely on the surface,

In that coming of age when hormones rage, what lies beneath all but unexplored,

“You’re cute,” “you’re hot”, that’s all that’s needed, consider yourselves got,

Here comes the fork in the road, will they stay or will they go?

A path to a happily ever after? Or ‘it’s been fun but nothing lasts forever’?

You took ‘em at face value, literally, didn’t look beyond the layers,

Failed to dig deeper to uncover rare and beautiful treasures,

Maybe you’ll get lucky, in the long term pieces may come together,

While the rest crash and burn, the price of myopia before commitment.

Time passes, bringing with it maturity and wisdom,

Accumulated wins and losses, absorbed differing opinions, no teacher like experience,

Maybe you’re still hitched, good for you if this is so, maybe y’all went separate, nothing is ever set in stone,

Then there are the unattached, marching down their own path,

Might find someone along the way, even at an advanced age,

By which point priorities change, new boxes on that checklist,

Values, beliefs and goals, personality and character, wasn’t essential many moons earlier,

The physical remains important, but ceased to be all-encompassing,

At least it should have long ago, shallowness doesn’t flatter the old,

Knowledge of one’s self long been achieved, your lantern for the rest of the way,

Use it wisely, could mean a happy ending or the one that got away.

And to they who remain tied by the bonds of matrimony, still at it when y’all are old and grey,

Still crazy for one another, perpetually in a state of first date,

Consider yourselves fortunate, not all make it to this bit, too many call it quits even for unimportant shit,

Naturally, they’d all be knocking at your door, like you’re an expert and know-it-all,

How do y’all sustain it? Let ‘em in on your secrets,

Perhaps the answer lies beyond what you can do for one another,

What drew you to one another, years earlier when y’all were younger,

Perhaps it’s a shared love and respect for what y’all had been through, from triumphs and tragedies love blooms anew,

And a shared anticipation for what else lies ahead before the very end, life ain’t done yet,

Go on and continue living, more adventures in the distance,

There’s daylight, still, keep filling the scrapbook with many colours.

’91 the year it was, first plane trip to a foreign land,

A fresh start and new adventures in the land down under,

Thrilled at new beginnings, shame about the language barrier,

Just a six year old kid from South East Asia, unfamiliar ‘bout everything going on in Australia,

Took a first trip to the local shopping centre, not so different from the motherland,

Flashier and rowdier, maybe a little bigger,

Found the toy store, Dreamland activated,

The perfect setting, too, for a first chance encounter,

Was sitting at the back, checking out action figures,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, back then many a boy’s idols,

He appeared from out of nowhere, fresh-faced and blonde haired,

Asked if I was a fan, his words alien to the dark-haired foreigner,

Nodded my head, unsure of any other answer, so he sat down, took it as permission,

Barely kept up with his chatter, hardly even mattered, thankfully he asked no questions, that surely would’ve been awkward,

Moment of fun spoiled when he was called by his parents,

Off he went, put an end to our bonding in an instant,

No clue where life took him, I doubt he even remembers,

Just a footnote in his story, long-buried and forgotten,

But this brown boy from the South East can still recall,

That first Aussie interaction, however brief, in that humble toy store.

Some luck out in life, find that someone special,

The one who completes ‘em, ticking every box in that list they’re checking,

They say there’s one for everyone, just gotta keep on swimming,

But what of those who go fishing but leave with empty baskets?

Destined to walk alone, on the wrong end of pity and scorn,

While the other side are romanticized as living embodiments of characters seen on movie nights,

But lost under the bright lights are what goes on behind the scenes, the ups and downs that go unseen,

The one you choose is the one with whom you run the gauntlet, prepare to be tested,

Could make or break the union, vows honoured or discarded,

Some don’t go the distance, a TKO remains a possibility,

Once inseparable becoming strangers or even the very worst of enemies,

Go it alone you’ll avoid that experience, dodging heartbreak and loss,

Are they the bitter and the damned? Or fortunate compared to most?

Happy are they that live the dream, scoring goals with their other half in tow,

Maybe some little ones join the show within a stable and happy home,

To grow old becomes a privilege rather than a hindrance, living life, side by side, until the very end of time,

Played the game and came up roses where winning is 50-50, where defeat comes with humiliation aplenty,

But the payoff well worth the risk, doesn’t get better than this,

A loving home and family, a lasting legacy, consider yourself fulfilled, not all are as lucky,

And even if you lose you learn, your choice to climb back on or go it alone, the party’s over but you’re still standing, life goes on,

You can say you tried, lapped up all the pleasures for a while, many would count you fortunate, Sir Alfie is but one of ‘em.

Never know what you’ll find, but the flipside a sad fact of life,

Could take a long time to find ‘em, not unusual to come up empty-handed,

Fate had other plans, maybe, can’t always dictate its direction,

Might not fit in the puzzle, nothing comes easy to outsiders,

Can still live your best life on your lonesome, a nasty thief is comparison,

Options always open, no constraints whatsoever, consider it personal freedom, perhaps your grass is greener,

Swerving the darker players within the game, the liars, manipulators, cheaters and the fake,

So maybe Sir Alfie wasn’t all that right all along, it ain’t a set path for all,

Go your own way, see where it takes you, so long as you regret nothing once the gates appear before you.

Gazing at that vast stretch of green, the park cutting Spence and Kimmy streets,

Overlooked by Adelaide, beside the school fenced by steel gates,

Passing through once more, sun shining this early morning, the memory bank blown open, let’s step back even if just for a moment,

Looking back at what had been, thirty years and counting,

Took it all for granted, grains of sand seemed to pour forever,

First home long gone, an upgrade long overdue, our first lodgings upon migration, now a memory all but forgotten,

Off to the park we go, let that mind wander, it’s still early in the day, maybe for an hour.

Change is a constant, confirmed by these here surroundings, old-style simplicity overcome by what’s deemed aesthetically pleasing at the expense of what at least one holds most preciously,

Little ones here spoiled for choice, what with upgrades on equipment, we made do swinging and sliding when we weren’t wilding out and running,

Setting off for adventures, riding bikes on the weekend, washed away the aftertaste of classes, basking in life’s simple pleasures,

Back to the present, noticed more trees planted, not that it’s a negative, but it does look different,

Old rusted drums straight from the junkyard once held peoples’ garbage, replaced since by steel blocks, weirdly-shaped, now accepting what’s been discarded,

Plenty of space to move around, still, that ain’t ever changing,

Turning towards Adelaide, at what’s behind the gates, Memory Lane stretching, the 90s rising from the ashes.

Donning those old shoes mentally, several sizes smaller now, the uniform ill-fitting, would tear ‘em easily now,

Reading, writing, arithmetic and meal breaks in between, fun with the guys, a few silly fights, our teachers the best of frenemies,

Lives governed by the chiming of the bell, dare to break the rules get ready for hell,

Groaning at the strain of all this homework, back then the extent of all our troubles,

Looking at what’s ahead, the weekend, once there hoping it would never end,

Gaming time in the bank before the cycle repeats over again,

The hell were we thinking? Wanting to grow up fast,

Here we are now, got what we wished for, some days want to take it back, this whole chapter is ass.

Morning walk nearing its conclusion, thinking ‘bout the homies, been thirty years now since shared hijinks and frivolities,

Approaching midlife now, all of us, on our own little journeys,

Marriage, kids and families, careers designed to tie wayward minds to reality,

All moved out the ‘hood, I am still right here,

Everyone goes away but this is home, warts and all, that’s just how it goes,

Would be nice to break bread, reminisce about the days when we were lads,

Not much chance of that, life got us scattered all around the map,

Taking in this scenery, still familiar but so different,

Once my stomping ground but that was long ago, but still a fond reminder, each and every visit.