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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

Roti Chatter by Ng Yi-Sheng

 

The kaya toast speaks Hainanese,
The prata knows Malay,
The mantou mumbles Mandarin and
Le croissant parle français.
Yet while the pastries jabber, their
Companion plays dumb:
You’ll hear the bread talk, but
The kopi tiam.

The thosai utters Tamil,
La tortilla español,
And eloquent in German is
The crusty Kaiser roll.
Yet while the bo lo bao
Yaks Cantonese with every crumb,
You’ll hear the bread talk, but
The kopi tiam.

“Don’t be so shy,” the crumpet says
In English. “Tell your story!”
The naan and the focaccia add,
“Kripya!” and “Per favore!”
Yet while you and the you zha kueh
May plead till kingdom come,
You’ll hear the bread talk, but
The kopi tiam.

The pita hollers Arabic,
The fry bread Navajo,
The bagel kvetches Yiddish and
Anpan wa nihongo.
The coffee doesn’t care: he is
Contented to stay mum.
You’ll hear the bread talk, but
The kopi tiam.

Published in SingPoWriMo 2017

Ng Yi-Sheng is a multidisciplinary writer, researcher and activist. His books include the short story collection Lion City and the poetry collection last boy (both winners of the Singapore Literature Prize), the nonfiction work SQ21: Singapore Queers in the 21st Century and the children’s history book Twisted Temasek. Additionally, he served as editor of A Mosque in the Jungle: Classic Ghost Stories by Othman Wok and EXHALE: an Anthology of Queer Singapore Voices, and as translator for Wong Yoon Wah’s The New Village and Homecomings. He tweets and Instagrams at @yishkabob.

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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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