those who lay silent

I meandered down a narrow lane before returning to Hengchun. An old signpost at the entrance hinted that some of the graves around the laneway might be from the town’s ancient past.

Tokyo’s Yanaka District

North of Ueno Park, I strolled through the narrow streets of this quiet district having heard it offered a taste of old Tokyo. But the few scattered traditional houses I passed, sadly showed signs of neglect as if they were considered unworthy of repair.

Cemetery amongst the trees

When I meandered on the back laneways of Kyoto’s Arashiyama, I came across a tiny burial ground.

Singapore Cemeteries

In the same block as the Arab Quarter’s Malabar Mosque were both an Old Malay and a Muslim Cemetery.

Hang Duong Cemetery

As I walked the tree-lined entrance to Hang Doung Cemetery, a heaviness pressed down on me. The site was lovingly maintained and the silence broken only by birds chirping, a rooster’s crow, an occasional dog barking or the wind through the trees.