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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

homecoming by Alvin Pang

 

On that day the tide will turn
and softly bring its crested head
to rest on the cheek of shore.

The jambu tree will shed
moist leaves, returning to earth
its debt of tears.

Every cloud will move
into its chosen place. Even the sun
will understand their boldness.

For so long I have listen to the call
of mountains in their loneliness.
The river’s thirst to follow ocean.

I know the years trapped in you
like so many birds, their wings
the very flutter of your heart.

At that hour, I will uncage
your body's sadness with my own,
and make the sound locks make

springing open.

Published in What Happened: Poems 1997-2017 (2017)

Alvin Pang is an internationally active poet and editor, photographer and translator from Singapore. His writings have been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide, including volumes in Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene and Swedish. A 2022 Dublin Literary Award judge and Civitella Ranieri Fellow, he is an honorary Adjunct Professor with RMIT University. He completed a PhD in Writing in 2020. His recent books include What Happened: Poems 1997–2017 (2017), Uninterrupted time (2019) and Diaphanous, co-written with George Szirtes (2023), and What Gives Us Our Names: Rosetta Edition (2024).

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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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