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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

Apples by Gilbert Koh

 

Today my son,
not yet two,
learns a new word.
“Apple,” I say,
offering him
a piece.
He listens,
then replies
slowly–
“Arr-pul”,
his first time,
the word curling
like a strange
new taste
in his mouth.

Later he will
run to the windows
calling arr-pul,
arr-pul
to the birds outside.
In the afternoon
it will rain
and he will raise
both palms
to the clouds
solemnly declaring
arr-pul, arr-pul.
Everything will
be apple
for the day.
In two baby hands
he will hold
a grand new word
and offer its
sweet freshness
to the sky.

Published in Two Baby Hands (2009)

Gilbert Koh works as a lawyer in Singapore. In 2005, he was the winner of the SPHNAC Golden Point Award for Poetry. He was also formerly a mentee in the NAC Mentor Access Project, a programme for ensuring the continued development of young and emerging writers in Singapore. On the Internet, Gilbert is better known as Mr Wang, the writer behind the popular website Mr Wang Says So. The website focuses on social issues and current affairs, and is one of Singapore’s better-known blogs.

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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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