"Panta Rhei"

N F Manaf

faridah@flinders.edu.au

Deep South v.2 n.2 (Winter, 1996)

Copyright (c) 1996 by N. F. Manaf, all rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the New Zealand Copyright Act 1962. It may be archived and redistributed in electronic form, provided that the journal is notified. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale. For such uses, written permission of the author and the notification of the journal are required. Write to Deep South, Department of English, University of Otago, P. O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.

When heartbeats are no longer
					 even,
When muscles are no longer
					 firm,
When skin starts to sag
and eyes blur,
When blood pressure runs wildly
on high and low,
You'll know,
life is a series of waitings
in clinic lounges and hospital beds.
You move from one Chinese sensei to the other,
and drink bitter herbal potions concocted in hell.
You consult Malay bomohs and shamans
Who tell you different tales,
which would only make the ambiyas laugh.
You'll know then,
It is the time to become selfless.
Old age has come,
Poverty has seeped in,
Health has resigned,
Death can no longer say "No" to its rightful place.
You'll know then,
Time is no longer barren.
You'll know then,
That life is like a piece of rotten wood
being savoured by white ants,
Your journey becomes shorter
and your home, closer.

Write a letter to The Editor. The authors of the work in the journal would appreciate your feedback, so take a moment to write to us if you wish to comment on or respond to anything you have read here. Write to: deep.south@stonebow.otago.ac.nz