WELCOME TO A BRAND NEW DAY

The morning breaks, the light returns
Salutations to a brand new day
There seems to be a cosmic wholeness
I gather my resources to chart my way

The liquid notes of a quiet house
The hallowed doorway of the morning
Holds a very special kind of charm
A window is a remarkable thing

All that I was, I am and am not
I drink my infusion of worldwide leaves
Pretty thoughts dance in my head
‘La Paisible’ . . . a home of peace

‘Cead Mile Failte’ . . . one thousand welcomes
I am in very good company
Here I linger, my own aficionado
With my petit fours, tarts and crème brulee

Johnnie carried orchards upon his back
With fresh insight and boundless vigour
Seeds burst into sprigs then trees then forests
The original classroom in nature

Serious faced men drinking cervezas
One Harlem Sunday afternoon
Playing dominoes on wooden cartons
A smile, a chuckle . . . what a boon!

French restaurants, Spanish bodegas and Jewish delis
And many pleasant places more
Coexist in a gentle harmony
Like I have never seen before

The last rays of a fading evening
Clinking glass, pearls on black
The whisper of the bow on a Stradivarius
The evening enchanting in its act

It is now half-past bedtime
Oh how much we loved the view
Chutzpah on a day well done
Arrivederci to me and arrivederci to you

Robyn Toh
26th November 2009


Pic : Arriving at Avillion Nov 2007; Taken by May Fook
Note : 'La Paisible' meaning 'House Of Peace'; the name of Audrey Hepburn's home in Switzerland.
Note : ‘Cead Mile Failte’ meaning 'one thousand welcomes' in Gaelic.