I run past
A dog on a leash
Pursuing a scent
Unseen by its pretty owner
Wagging its tail
In mock obedience
The pretty owner runs along
Her ponytail bouncing in the evening breeze
As she is led by the leash.
I run past
A construction site
I hear a shower of pebbles
The purring of machines
Working overtime
Behind the fenced hills of fresh concrete
Gaining a floor a day.
I run past
Laughing children
On a night trek
Their safe electric lanterns,
Orderly like a string of LEDs.
Then comes the candles and sparklers.
Alas, even in this digital age
We still worship the raw power of naked flames
I run past
A monk in sneakers
His saffron robes
Soaked at the shoulder blades
His feet trudging
On the winding sutra.
Proudly, I overtake him
On the path to Enlightenment.
I run till the river narrows
Into a drain,
Almost stagnant
More like an end than a beginning.
The unfiltered, undiluted discards
Warmly vaporising into a tolerable stench
As a perfect moon
Reflects off the unseen decay.
© Chan Joon Yee
Malaysian Model: Stella
Photographer: Chan Joon Yee
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