Heavenly Grey

Published on November 24, 2023by Le Mai Tan Dat

The sky is a little bit grey from my window today.

Is it a natural phenomenon, or a reflection of my sorrow?

Grey is a diffusion of black and white, Ambivalent, yet commonplace.

When I look out of my window, I wish I could be a bird, To fly across the sky, and be bereft of this ambiguity.

Yet my heart gains weight as the thought approaches, Gain weight not of muscle, but of woe.

Would the sky still look grey to me, when I were a bird?

O Schindler,

You defied deaths for countless people, only to greet death yourself.

If justice is the fairness in which people are dealt with, What is the justice that belongs to you?

If justice is the social condition in which everyone can achieve their virtues.

Have you achieved your justice?

I want to paint a rose on your grave,

But I cannot make sure of the intentions behind your actions.

Is it a true story, or a tale we love to tell?

In a world where flowers can be engineered to grow downwards, Can Conspiracy be the next Plague?

Dissipating between two worlds,

I cannot help but succumb to the comfort provided by my duties.

Making a stop here and there, the bird still flies towards its destination.

Is it where the bird should head? - I'm not sure if the bird has ever doubted.

I wonder if the sky will still be grey by then.

Perhaps,

The bird does not care to take a look.

November 2023, Singapore.

Share this post: Facebook Twitter

Discover Other Blogs

Perspectives on Shakespeare’s “All The World’s a Stage”

May 22, 2025

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms; And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lin’d, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion; Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Perspectives on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" the musical

November 1, 2025

When I was working on my assignment and used and listened to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (Menken and Schwartz, 1998) the musical soundtrack, adapted from the book of the same name by Victor Hugo (2011) as background music for my study, I suddenly realised how my reactions towards the characters had changed from the first time I watched it. In this essay, I will focus only on the character Claude Frollo.

Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference 2021

October 19, 2021

Well, I first knew of the event when the leader in Book Box TNH forwarded a link about the event. This year, due to the pandemic, this conference is held online and are open to students from all over the world, which is great because I do not need to travel to Australia in order to attend an offline conference. I had known of this for quite a long time, but I lingered and did not sign up, when I decided to sign up, it was just three days left. And payment had to be made, knowledge had to be absorbed, preparation should be made. I still have homework from my school, meetings from The Torch, so my schedule became so busy, but I managed.