yesterday i passed by <br />my childhood stall by the road; <br />what an experience it was! <br />that woman in her 30s i used to see, <br />now only her creased forehead and face <br />to add another dimension between us. <br />how sweet her layered little squarish <br />suntan cakes still tasted; <br />those layers that i peeled off <br />piece by piece to savour their charms. <br />and as i peeled the women gave me <br />that more mature and <br />deeply heartstirring smile <br />that tore through the distance <br />between us as if each layer i had peeled carried a story of her own life. <br />those years of experiences <br />now seen in phases, <br />like the layers of her cake. <br />the child in me leapt up again. <br />i left behind what <br />have separated us <br />to present the innocent smile <br />we used to give each other. <br />momentarily we lived <br />those days when i was a child <br />and she a young woman. <br />those childhood years <br />when we saw people as what they were. <br />those childhood years <br />when our smiles, love <br />were a fountain spring of ourselves <br />until the days when growing up <br />added different shades <br />of feelings and thoughts <br />to our relationships. <br />i hate the layer <br />those creases and wrinkles <br />laid in me. <br />i prefer to see them <br />as a child <br />where she would probably be <br />the wise woman in some cartoon film. <br />how those cakes would never <br />be the same again. <br />how i loved those pink and white layers, <br />the pink and white that had always <br />carried a fairy tale behind them.<br /><br />john tiong chunghoo<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/those-layered-cakes/
