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Poems on the MRT

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நரை வெளிச்சம் / Twilight by KTM Iqbal

 

நரை வெளிச்சம்
க.து.மு. இக்பால்

அனுபவ மூட்டைகளின்
பாரம் சுமந்து
வானவில்லாய் வளைந்து விட்டது
முதுகு

வண்ணங்கள் இழந்த
இந்த வில்லை எவரும்
எளிதில் ஒடித்து விட முடியாது

கண்களின் தெளிந்த பார்வை
இன்று இதயத்திற்கு
இடம் மாறி இருக்கிறது
பத்திரமாக

நரை வெளிச்சத்தில்
இப்போது நன்றாகத் தெரிகிறது
பாதையின் பள்ளமும் மேடும்.

யார் சொன்னது
இதனை இருள் கவியும்
அந்தி என்று?

Twilight
Written by KTM Iqbal
Translated by Sulosana Karthigasu

Weighed by life’s burdens
The back is bent
Like a rainbow’s arc

Yet that spine tells a tale
Of a life lived
with resilience and fortitude
The bow's colours may have dimmed
But none can break it easily

Eyes once sharp in sight
Now sees from deep within
the heart

In wisdom’s soft glow
Life’s highs and lows
Are more clearly visible

Which fool called this twilight
Where darkness quietly falls?


Published in Kavithai Penn (2016)

KTM Iqbal has authored seven collections of poetry and written over two hundred children’s songs for the Singapore radio program Let Us Sing in the 1970s and 1980s. He has contributed poems, essays, and short stories to the region’s leading newspapers and magazines. His poem Water was selected by the National Arts Council for display on MRT trains in 1995 and for exhibition at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany. He was an associate editor of the anthologies Rhythms (2000) and Fifty on 50 (2009). His awards include the NUS Centre for the Arts Mont Blanc Literary Award in 1996, the Southeast Asia Write Award in 2001, and the Cultural Medallion Award (Literary Arts) in 2014. He is now 83 years old.

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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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