Two Worlds Apart Poem by Dr Ronnie Bai

When in full splendour blossom the peonies,
Borne aflow their flowery fragrance of fanfare - -
On itself my mind’s mossy gate unhinges
For my much missed mates, my mates so dear - -

You bunch of sybarites supreme today,
Dandies in heart then, but dowdies in hunger - -
With hardly enough mantou for the day
But flux of food for thought from th’ instructor - -

You lot of sleepy heads posturepedic,
The former early rising skylarks soft - -
Tuning with melodies so fantastic
The brute bugle’s squealing and squawking aloft - -

On today’s rainbow, you happy riders high,
Weren’t we once coolies pulling hard and low - -
Yet who would grudge a drear and dry night sky
As amidst rich rain gold sunshine would show - -

Now in full splendour blossom the peonies,
Flow far to feed may their flowery fragrance - -
A lonely me in lonely Antarctic seas
While all my mates around the peonies dance - -


(Auckland, April,2012)