Elvis Sihoi
***
I’m afraid to give him
Too much love,
It might hurt him,
Not to give him enough love,
It might make him suffer,
My heart is mindful
When I shower
My little boy with my love.
02/10/23
***
So much worries
Run through my mind,
He becomes too big
To sit on my lap,
He runs too fast
To catch him
And stroke his
Little cheeks
He turns into a bird
Gradually
Wishing to explore the world
That opens
In front of his eyes
I’m afraid
Of losing him.
28/12/23
***
The poem is written at Gaia Holmes’s workshop at King Cross Library, Halifax
He looks at me with blueberry in his hands
Rolling it in his tiny fingers
Being not aware it might drop on the floor,
Not knowing that his mum might burst into a scream of horror
Seeing pressures berry being wasted
He smiles and laughs singing La-la-la
He shakes his legs. His trainers clatter on the floor.
His eyes deep brown as blueberry in his little hands
I see he is reading my eyes maybe musing
They look like grey berries. His little heart
Absorbs the juice of love and happiness
And I can see he cannot have enough of the safety he receives from my eyes.
11/05/24
***
This poem is dedicated to my mother-in-law.
Published on Facebook pages – Facebook Poetry Society, Igniting The Spark, Ivo Bierands, On My Mind, Poetry UK, The Love of Poetry and Writers Help Writers on 06/09/24.
She is wetting the little boy’s body gently,
Applying Carefully a little white wet rag
On his head, arms, tummy, back
Scooping water from the bath.
She covers his ears with her hands,
Water is not allowed to get in.
It’s dangerous.
Love spreads on every inch of the little boy's body.
Now he is ready to be washed.
Her eyes are focused on not hurting him
While she is massaging shampoo on his bright wayward hair
Using both hands.
Boy does not cry,
He plays with a showerhead in the bath
And splashes water with one of his feet
He smiles at his grandma,
He says her – Shī*
She puts baby shower gel on his arms
And rubs with her warm hands
Tenderly
Going over every hand and his little busy finger.
She tells him – ci lai*
The little boy doesn’t.
She lifts him and washes his back, bum and legs.
Without rush,
As slowly as she can
She clings to the moment
The boy is still a child.
16/06/24
Shī - wet (in Chinese)
Ci lai - stand up (in Chinese)
Ci lai - stand up (in Chinese)
Robots
His little hands stretch up,
‘Robots!’ His terrified eyes scream - loud.
I lift and hug my boy.
We have to escape as far as we can.
His little hands cling firmly around my neck,
His fingers dig deep in my skin
Making me muse
There is nowhere better than in his dads arms
To be safe.
His chestnut brown eyes search for robots.
‘Robots!’ He screams.
‘Don’t you want see robots?’ I ask.
He shakes his head in panic.
Robots!
Two robots!
I carry him away to the bouncing nets.
No robots here. Just music for the robots to dance.
Lets go home, I say, but he screams – Robots!
We’ll go quickly while robots dance at the end of the playground.
He screams. Two robots!
I say lets go quickly while robots dance.
You’re safe. Your dad will protect you from the robots.
He repeats the word – safe. His mind still haunted by two gigantic robots
That came for nothing more than dance.
15/07/24
***
Published on Facebook pages – On My Mind, Igniting The Spark, The Love of Poetry and Ivo Bierands on 30/08/24.
It might seem that I work for no pay,
But I’m not.
I’m paid by Elvis with his endless love
And I don’t understand where from
Such a little heart gets so much love given.
It burst over me like a waterfall
With hugs and trust,
Laughs and fear of losing me.
More than eight hours a day
And more than five days a week
I’m cascaded by his unconditional love.
It's continuous and everlasting
Making my life be meaningful.
15/07/24
***
Your mum parked her scooter and we came home
Through warm white illuminated streets by street lamps in Beihai
Nine o’clock Thursday night.
You bent down halfway through lifting your hands as high as you could
Behind your back.
And you ran clumsy as fast as you could.
Are you a running chicken? I asked.
You just laughed and I did the same.
Now we both ran along a footpath
And laughed our hearts out.
We waited for your mum to reach us in her steady walk
Her face was thoughtful when she looked at us.
And we ran again
Turning into running chickens on a hot and humid summer night
As if we were Marvel superheroes
Who can turn themselves into whatever they want to be.
25/07/24
***
He takes from the ground two tiny tree leaves
And brings them up to the slide,
He laughs pushing tree leaves down the slide
And follows them with his tropical boy eyes,
Now
It’s time for him to get down the slide too.
He turns himself on his tummy and gets down with a joyful scream.
He waits for my reaction.
I smile and say, be careful.
He secures temporary priceless tree leaves in his hands
Before other children can take them
And throws them in the air as high as he can
He seeks for them on the ground
To start everything over again.
03/08/24
***
Published on Facebook pages – Igniting The Spark, Ivo Bierands, On My Mind, Poetry UK and The Love of Poetry on 02/09/24.
When my little boy cries
His tears are true and pure,
His little heart means no harm,
But an innocent joy.
03/08/24
***
Published on Facebook pages – Igniting The Spark, Ivo Bierands, On My Mind, Poetry UK, The Love of Poetry and Writers Help Writers on 03/09/24.
look at our boy
And the way he lives in his world
Happily and lively spinning round and round
Endlessly,
Pretending an airplane, a train or other things he likes to be,
Feeling safe,
Surrounded by his two nearest shining stars.
I wish the real world would be
The same.
10/08/24
***
Published on Facebook pages – Facebook Poetry Society, Igniting The Spark, Ivo Bierands, On My Mind, Poetry UK, The Love of Poetry and Writers Help Writers on 04/09/24.
My heart absorbs your boundless joy of being with us
And it radiates
Passion
To stream its love to you
Endlessly,
Infinite,
Forever.
03/09/24