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Poems on the MRT

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பாடம் / Lesson by Latha

 

பாடம்
லதா


வானத்தில்
பறந்துகொண்டிருந்த
பட்டங்களுக்குள்
ஒரு போட்டி
விழுவது யாரென்று.

கீழிறங்குவது பற்றி அறியாத
பட்டங்கள் விழ முடியாமல்
தவித்தன.

தற்செயலாய்
ஒரு பட்டம் வாலறுந்து
விழுந்தபோது
பறப்பது பற்றித்
தெரிந்து கொண்டது.

Lesson
Written by Latha
Translated by Sulosana Karthigasu

Who would fall first
Wondered some kites
Competing in the sky

Clueless how to land
they fluttered
Here and there

One kite
its tail accidentally cut
learnt:
To fly, one needs to fall


Credit to Singapore Book Council

Kanagalatha (Latha) has published three collections of poetry and two short story collections. The English translation of her short story collection The Goddess in the Living Room was published in 2014. Her poems and short stories have been published in multilingual anthologies in Singapore and various International Tamil literary journals. Kanagalatha is one of the founding directors for Poetry Festival Singapore. She is currently the Associate editor of Tamil Murasu.

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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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