A Sunday Kinda Love: Playlist of the Disillusioned

 Hollow. The echoes of disillusionment. Are we expressed or repressed? Disparate readings and a killer playlist set the tone for a moody Sunday. 

Acknowledgements: Puteri Eleni - The Malaysian Poets Society, Afiq Shahril, Tasha Lim, Marissa T.

Original texts and playlist below:

The Vape Escape  by Marissa T. - Petaling Jaya

Eyes glow from narrowed slits

Vapour escapes, sidestreaming from lips

Hungry for something more

We feed, feed, feed

We're scrolling, we're trolling

Craving more than before

Fill Fill Fill

We're empty inside

Smoke, search, shop, preen

Grab, stuff, shovel it in, 

We're addicted

Stuck on the middle plane

Knee deep in debt

Always waiting for something better

Waiting for that lift off

That payoff

Next week, next month, next year

Next time maybe

But it never comes

This Box by Marissa T. - Petaling Jaya

This box

Four walls

Cracks: gaps in the wood

Light; shimmer-shiny, sharpshooting

Forcing their way in

Making shadows on splayed limbs

And the plastic bags in the corner

In here, you're someone else

Out there, you shine

Big numbers 'splayed in bright colours on your chest

It's a war cry

Smelling of a different place

A different life

A different you

Perfume rises as you

Squat on the commode

You don't sit on the fence

When you shut the door to your hovel

And get into your Mercedes Benz

Unanswered by Afiq Shahril, Perak

If you know your end

Would you be able to live?

Would you be able to breathe without worries?

Would you be able to share your love and care?

Would envy and jealousy matter anymore?

Would it be a hustle to be the first?

The first in everything

And how would you perceive life if you don’t know your end?

How do you make sure your start doesn’t end?

What if your start is actually your end?

How do you even answer these questions?

Mantra by Zoe Maisara, Kemensah

Murid-murid semua dengar sini

Kanak-kanak mesti belajar kuat-kuat

Bila besar, kerja bersungguh-sungguh

Jaga hati ibu dan ayah

Dapat gaji tinggi-tinggi

Beli rumah besar-besar

Bagi duit kat adik beradik

Nenek moyang dan kucing-kucing kesayangan kamu

Betul tak? (hu-hu)

Betul.

I Am by Tasha Lim, Penang

I am a Seeker,  Not of lost things,

But of forgotten feelings.

A Wanderer,

Searching high and low,

For that one little glow.

A Dreamer,

Waiting for snow to fall,

For someone to break my wall.

But what about you?

Before we go deeper,

Are you a Keeper?

PLAYLIST

Josephine - Ritual, Lisa Hannigan

Future Visions - Favela

So Cruel - Young Empires

Pluto (Remember You) - DJ Clock, Beatenberg

Broken Over You - Grace Mitchell

XXX 88 (Oceaan Remix) - MØ, Diplo

Cracks - Sam Sure

Sunday Girl - Brandon and Leah