forty-two
after Googling, “the answer to life, the universe and everything”
it begins with wizened mahogany —
aflame in degrees of fervour fighting for
oxygen as if there’s a rush to relinquish itself
of its chores then by nature or by force: annihilated
–––
it is 2042 where the only religion is sedatives to
be hooked up with in commingled shades, shapes and sizes
and its denominations led by a belief that one or
some or none could lead us to our own second coming
–––
if this is what the ones above bequeathed to me
why am i greeted by your absence in the forty
second song of promises and only avowed a
hunger that a ravenous being no longer remembers
–––
if forty-two is the answer to all of the above then
it’ll take forty-two ekphrastic expressions to
recognise that churches are vessels to the other
side of nihilism before the candles go out
Title: Atelier of Healing
Publisher: Squircle Line Press
Published Year: 2021
Atelier of Healing is an e-anthology edited by Desmond F.X Kon ZC-MD and Eric F. Tinsay Valles of Squircle Line Press. Launched at the 2021 edition of Poetry Festival Singapore, it features works from over 100 contributors who share about trauma and recovery through poetry. The poem ‘forty-two’ can be found in Chapter 6: Midnight to Fluorescent Blue alongside Low Kian Seh’s contribution.
Begin Again
It will begin again. The evolution of a vicious cycle, heavy rain, a landslide
a sinkhole. I likened the cracks to your hair –– Thin but plentiful. & broken as we are
We bend, mend, depend. The slow-drying cement that speaks of a bullet train ride
en route to an empty oblivion. We were at the altar when you said
“Dried cracks cannot be fixed.” You, the rain. I, the wind. The birth of a hurricane
A death of a thunderstorm. I felt an electrical current course through my blood
my fingers through your hair, that word starts with the letter D.
Deviant, danger, damage. A voltaic fall as I make a long-distance sprint from the light
to the dark. The evolution of a constant cycle, a crescent, a quarter,
a waxing gibbous. Our craters are filled with the sediments accrued,
We dive, strive, arrive. Dried cement blocks that speak of a standstill,
on the road to constructing an altar –– with cracks. You continued
“But cracks can be filled.” You, with tears. I, with pain. Conjuring the climate
the weatherman can’t forget. Colliding clouds and sparks aflame.
Isochronous signals, it starts with the letter D.
Diverge, decide, defy. A marathon run to the dark, let’s begin again.
Title: Anima Methodi: The Poetics of Mirroring
Publisher: Squircle Line Press
Published Year: 2018
Anima Methodi: The Poetics of MIrroring is an anthology edited by Desmond F.X Kon ZC-MD and Eric F. Tinsay Valles and published by the Squircle Line Press. It was launched at the Singapore Writers’ Festival 2018 where I was invited to read alongisde other contributors. This unique poetic form was made in Singapore which features two stanzas, a volta and repitition. The poem “Begin Again” can be found in the hardcopy book available at Epigram Bookshop, Kinokuniya and the National Library.