Ah Late Grandma Is Back Poem by john tiong chunghoo

last night late grandma showed her face
on the screen of my mind

perhaps that's her way to say
she had received the merits sent her
from the supplications
at the Mahavira buddhist temple

the temple where new year candles flicker
in little red cuplets filled with oil
through the night on festive occasions

on grandma's face is a spirituality
i had never seen before
she looked a different person
after so many years, she has been to somewhere
and yes she has put on weight

like before not a word was spoken
but who needs words when one's face itself
can tell a story more profound than a thousand words

who needs those lengthy descriptions when a mere look
at a face is able to show us the spirituality of another realm,

and hers tells me the spirituality she has imbibed is thicker
than the one i am in
sure she has been to places all these nine years or so

you know through her ace there is a religion somewhere
governing us all, a spirituality that carries us through
each realm, each day

a God can be seen through the face of those
who have journeyed into eternity
if you have the blessings to have them back to you
for a split second or two, right on the screen of your mind

a spirit keen to share with us the graces they have imbibed
since the day they left, a holiness no words can tell
a face treasured for the all the stories it can tell
without the need of words