IF ONLY

Shahril Nizam, has launched 'IF ONLY', a collection of poems and illustrations. It comes with 2 cover options.

A cat sat on his pedestal,
Majestic on a hill.
He reigned over a thousand mice,
Subservient to his will.

He made them wear the same clothes,
A uniform of grey,
And made them work the wheat fields,
All month, all week, all day.

He’d never let them squeak a word,
Much less, to let them play.
He’d never let them hum a tune,
Nor even let them pray.

“There is no God but me”, he said,
“You shall not go astray,
And for all those who disobey,
With your lives you shall pay”.

How could the mice defend themselves,
They didn’t have a clue.
For all they did was work all day,
Then went home feeling blue.

With time the mice grew weary,
Yet still they toiled and slaved,
And yearning that before too long,
Their hapless lives be saved.

Without one soul to guide them,
They knew not what to do.
With not a glint of wisdom,
Their fates were stuck like glue.

The cat would much prefer this,
To him ‘twas heaven sent.
This ignorance could soon prevent,
A horrible dissent.

But on one fateful sunny day,
The cat fell off his hill!
On jagged rocks did land his head,
And now the cat was dead.

“How could this be?”, they wondered.
“Foul play or some ill fate?”,
For one they deemed invincible
To end up in this state.

They asked and searched for answers.
They focused high and low.
They travelled to the farthest ends.
Through hail and sleet and snow.

They learnt to read, they looked for clues.
They probed and analysed.
They combed the forests, sailed the seas.
Their valour galvanized.

The mice sought truth in earnest.
They sought all day and night.
And never stopped their search
Until one day they saw the light.

They found that they could stand alone:
They had no need for kings
Or pedestals on top hills,
Who needs such silly things!

“Let wisdom reign supreme!” they cried,
“Let knowledge be our pride;
Be with our wit and grit henceforth,
And truth - our one true guide”.