Rants and Rambles

  So long, summer "Row, row, row your boat/ Gently down the stream..." The words from the cheery tune I would always chant as a kid now echo back in my mind, now that I am an ocean away from those carefree days. As I wander around the boardwalk undulating the rocky shores of Lulu Island, a few kilometers away from my home, the vast stretch of the sea glimmering in a fall twilight seems to stretch further than ever. The last rays of sunlight from the peach-tinted skies radiate faintly behind the snow-capped mountains, painting the tranquil riverbank in a vivid palette of azure and gold. The carefree days of summer have receded, trailing behind booth photographs, strawberry jam, and chlorine-streaked curls as a reminder of the fondest of memories an ocean away.  Then, fall came, as lightly as the russet maple falling on the moss-covered roof. While typing these words, I could hear the soothing rhythm of the raindrops falling on the maple-shaded roof and the wind rustling throug...

 Originally published in  Pluvia Literary Magazine , Issue IV (October 2022) In the strawberry field, no one is worried. The sky is crisp azure, as if nothing could stop it from being so. The stretching beds embrace the horizons with their sweet kisses of tender strawberries Their after-kiss fragrance lingers in the air, filled the chickadee’s jubilant songs to harken the advent of summer.   In the strawberry field, no one is worried. Little kids run around barefoot, their plump fingers clutched with a bucketful of crimson sweetness while their parents, tucked in crisp denim and flowing floral dresses, gaze adoringly at their exuberant enfants. The flashes from cameras overshine the sun, glittering the sparks of asphalt on the country road.   In the strawberry field, no one is worried. Alas, I wish I could be so! Summer has come, yet my thoughts do not have wings to soar out of the reality entrenched deep into my soul, about wh...