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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

Walk to Work by Aaron Maniam

 

There is a time every morning
when You send tendrils
of light to the wayside trees:
Leaves whisper in hushed shadows
while filament ferns glow
golden on the dark of bark.
On most days, I pass these by
but today I must have stumbled
upon a perfect light angle:
Branches outspread, shining heavenward
and I learn again that all things
have their language of praise.

Published in From Walden to Woodlands: An Anthology of Nature Poems (2015)

Aaron Maniam is the author of two collections of poetry, Morning at Memory’s Border (one of three books shortlisted for the 2007 Singapore Literature Prize) and Second Persons (2018). He is a regular editor of The Birthday Book, an annual collection of essays on, of, and for Singapore, and writes regularly on public policy, futures thinking and the use of metaphors in large, complex organisations.

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.

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