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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

Anima, on Canvas by Hidhir Razak

 

(an ekphrasis to Low Kway Song's Lynx)

"Sit like a cat, leap like a tiger."
~ Malay idiom

Sit like you're about to leap
into moonlight, into blue night
like mist into dawn. Turn, drawn
against your will by this still art
that promises nothing. The tree you
claim stopped flowering decades ago.
You are not even named. Your spots will
outlive you. Nothing will remain

but the breath in your lungs, the wind
prickling your ears. You sit like you're
about to leap. For whom do you
wait? I see a nexus in your gaze;
from which branch did it fall?
Will you leap? Will you now disappear
to where your gaze shines? Will you
even bother remembering mine?

Published in Anima Methodi: The Poetics of Mirroring (2018)

Hidhir Razak is a writer, poet, and choral music enthusiast. He has a Masters in English and Creative Writing from Nanyang Technological University and his works have appeared in anthologies, new media, and other publications. He currently works for a learning & development consultancy and likes cats and mee soto.

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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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