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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

石头 / Stone by Yeng Pway Ngon

 

石头
英培安

没有人能了解我与你的亲密
了解我们相依的体温
你身上有我的汗和泪
我身上粘着你
粗犷的
体味

你是我亲密的伴侣
你是我的责任
我的承担
我从山脚艰苦地把你往山顶推移
已知道你会一次又一次地
滚回山脚。而我也知道
只有你
聆听我艰辛的脚步
沉重的呼吸
只有你见证
我的失望与颓丧
执着和勇气

每次我回到山脚
细心检验上一回留下的足迹
重新推动你，我总是
无怨无悔

我不孤独。我有林木
苍空、骄阳、星月、暴雨
以及一起体验快乐与艰辛的
你

没有人了解我与你
天长地久的爱
肌肤的亲密
没有人了解
日夜紧贴着你对抗这荒谬
是我们存在的
意义


Stone
Written by Yeng Pway Ngon
Translated by Shelly Bryant

no one can understand the intimacy between us, you and me

the warmth we share

your body, carrier of my sweat and tears

and I cling to you,

your rough

scent

you, my closest companion

my responsibility

my burden

I laboriously push you from the foot of the mountain
towards the peak

knowing that you will roll back

to the foot
again
and
again

and I know

that only you
hear the strain in my footsteps

the weight of my breath

only you see

my disappointment, my collapse

my persistence, my courage

each time I return to the foot of the mountain

I inspect the traces of my last steps
then push you again

all

without complaint or regret

I am not alone – I have the forest

the vast sky, the burning sun, the stars and moon, the brutal rain

and you, who share my joy
and my hardship

no one understands the timeless love

between us, you and me

the intimacy of skin and flesh

no one understands

that clasping you day and night

defying this absurdity

is the meaning

of our existence

Published in Stone 石头 (2020)

Credit to yeng.sg

英培安 Yeng Pway Ngon (1947-2021) is a Cultural Medallion recipient (2003), S.E.A. Write Award recipient (2013), three-time Singapore Literature Prize winner (2004, 2008, 2012), one of Singapore’s most distinguished Chinese-language poets, and a novelist and critic in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Having written for more than 50 years, Yeng has made immense contributions to the Singapore Chinese literary scene. His works are deeply existential and universal, examining human concerns and failings that are timeless and relatable.

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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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