Category: Natural Beauty

  • This Fluorite Tower

    This Fluorite Tower

    A walk in the shop – a chance encountering.
    Of crystals, apparel, and trinkets therein.
    “Unique”, I thought and was led to see.

    It soon became clear where my focus was drawn:
    To stones arrayed in sundry sizes and forms,
    But largely it was their colours that charmed.
    To ascribe them mere red, yellow, and blue
    – or the other basic colours –
    Would be a great disservice, a travesty.

    The blend, the mix, the textures, the shades,
    Result in a palette so rich as to alarm.
    For how can nature concoct
    Such art beyond words –
    In its intricacy, colour-symphony, and – dare I say –
    Its beauty –
    If it’s left to chance’s haphazard work?

    Is it no wonder that crystals are linked
    To the spiritual realm though they be just rocks?

    A walk in the shop – a chance encountering?
    I saw, I felt, but one caught my eye.
    The luminosity of it that transfixed me so.
    Its greenish flush that seems to radiate
    Is what you could call,
    Nature’s “glow-in-the-dark”.
    Aided by man’s handiwork,
    The form that results is unorthodox.
    Body cylindrical with pointed tip
    Appeals more to me than the x-sided tower.

    A sense of awe and mystery it brings,
    A translucent green from an encasement of “frost”.
    Who knows what history that this rock contains?
    Except that it is now part of my life.
    Grateful I am to encounter and have,
    This fluorite tower,
    Luminescing Joy, a delight to hold –

    *Images Source: My Own










  • The Green. Imperial. Pigeon I Saw 

    The Green. Imperial. Pigeon I Saw 

    As serendipity would have it, I encountered this mysterious bird up close the other day:

    • Green Imperial Pigeon

    To be clear, it was not the first time I have encountered it in where I live (Upper Changi) – I have spotted it before on the palm trees surrounding my condominium’s tennis court – but it is my first time beholding it within arm’s length while on my way to the bus stop.

    Certainly, I was thrilled and paused to observe, being careful to keep my movements gentle lest I startle her.

    “Majestic. Stately. Bright-eyed”, are adjectives that come to my mind when I looked. It was without a doubt a pigeon or a dove and had wing feathers resembling a peacock-green with its almost iridescent green which complementarily matched a light grey neck and pinkish feet. Her pupils are another sight to behold in its maroon-like tinge reflected in them. Intrigued by its presence, I felt an instinctual urge to wave at it, curious to see how she would respond, which to my relief – after a few shifts and turns – remained resolute in her position.

    “Hm, a brave bird I see… (and so unlike the Yellow-vented Bulbul) interesting!”

    This time keeping my hands close to myself, I discreetly took some pictures and continued to watch and lo, and behold! She began feasting on the fruits – no wonder she stayed!

    A sight to behold,
    A joy to watch,
    So trite a thing as some might mock,
    “A Bird? A Pigeon? 
    Haven’t you seen one in your life?” 

    But if you heed not
    Presumption’s take,
    To bypass familiarity, and to still the rush. 
    To pause.
    To look.
    To muse away – 

    And then you’ll see the magnificent fowl,
    Commonplace or rare,
    Our inhabitants of sky. 

    Each one unique, 
    In colours – the obvious –
    In calls – sometimes pleasant – 
    In temperament – the thrill! 

    So it is to witness the sight of one,
    The uncommon pigeon with the Greenish coat,
    Stout,
    Grey-neck, Red-eyes, 
    With a sense of pomp,
    Whose name is fitting
    To how it is:

    The Green. Imperial. Pigeon I saw 


    *Featured image: https://singaporebirds.com/species/green-imperial-pigeon/




  • The Bird that’s called…

    The Bird that’s called…

    Who would have thought in the thick of estates
    – where I reside –
    could be found not mere men,
    but birds in array –

    The common Myna, of course,
    And the Pigeons as well.
    Flamebacks.
    Hornbills.
    Koels.
    Parakeets.
    Doves.
    Orioles.
    Sparrows.
    Munias.
    –
    Yes they are here (to my disbelief)
    As patrons and neighbours
    – a motley crew –
    Who add to the interests,
    with their sightings and sounds,
    Of those who see past
    The generic bird.

    Now there is one fowl
    Which is not in the list,
    Intentionally left out
    To particularise.
    What is she called?

    I wonder…

    Is it a sparrow? (which at first I thought)
    Though brown, it is not.
    A tad too large?
    Yes, definitely too large.
    A broad elongated tail?
    Can’t be a sparrow.
    And look –
    Wow!
    – its head! Look at its head!
    Handsomely white with a streak of black,
    The kind which garners second looks.
    But that’s not all.
    For its movement is flamboyant,
    Resembling a dancer – a flamenco dancer, to be exact –
    In her long-laced dress, she
    Hops,
    Turns,
    Switches,
    Suspends

    – and Swoosh!

    Alas, she is gone!
    Her beauty missed.
    The one held dear but gone with the wind.

    When will I see her –
    again and again?
    Oh.
    But what is she called?
    Yes, what is she called?

    Yellow-vented Bulbul

    – I’ll remember that.

    Yellow vented bulbul

    *Image Source: eBird (Photo taken by JJ Harrison)

    *For the more curious readers, visit https://singaporebirds.com to see pictures of the bird species aforementioned.


  • Corydoras, the Pet Fish of my Desiring

    Corydoras, the Pet Fish of my Desiring

    As it tends to be with human beings, and by extension, fish hobbyists, I, too have particular predilections towards certain things, people, and, in this case, fishes, in a world – mind you – that is filled with other good things. So why this particular fish, the Corydoras? But first, an introduction:

    Corydoras (in Greek: kory = helmet; doras = skin) is a genus of freshwater catfish native to South America, with a body filled with bony plates instead of scales (hence the name attributed to it), and like most (if not all) catfish, they posses “whiskers” or “barbels” attached to their mouths. They are primarily bottom dwellers and schooling fishes, whose diet consists of aquatic invertebrates and algae in the wild. As of yet, there are over 160 recognized species with some several hundreds still unspecified. Here is a small sample of different species in the genus:

    Corydoras, Cory species


    I cannot remember exactly when my first encounter with the “Corys” (as I like to call them) was but it must have been sometime when I was thirteen/fourteen years old, happily tagging alongside my Father, who was and still is, an active fish hobbyist, to fish shops and eventually having them graced my home aquarium. And so it seems, my love for them has not faded since then…

    Corydoras, lovely and small,
    Adorned with garbs of, beauty bizarre
    – spots, stripes, blotches, and bars –
    Who would have thought could come from bone plates?
    Whiskers, notwithstanding, are what to expect,
    But O so wise they make you look.
    And perhaps you are, in your distant stares,
    With eyes enlarged and rolling about –
    A penny for your thoughts is what I’ll give!

    Resting and rummaging, you seem also to do,
    But hardly alone you do those things.
    Never one for one-upmanship,
    Harmony you prize in your social life,
    Receiving, accepting, all who are near
    – in leisure, in search, and in fe(a)stal joy!

    What is more delightful than – a Cory?
    – two, three, no, I say more!
    Beauty in numbers is found in them,
    Akin to a tapestry, vibrant and right,
    Is what you will see in Corys-in-schools!

    Praise be to Corys, and Nature alike!
    For pleasures we know not if not for them.
    And may we not ask, “Why it is so?”
    Then perhaps the reply:
    “Just enjoy and be”.
    Or maybe you’ll hear,
    With open hearts,
    “It is I who create and knows you well.”

    Corydoras,
    Lovely and small,
    Is the pet fish of,
    My desiring.

    Image Sources: Featured image (Aquatic Arts);Image in Article (Pinterest)