Eric Valles (b. 1968)
SELECTED POEMS
Singapore River on Exhibit¹
Majestic in the middle of a frame,
A green streak undulating like grass snake,
Pristine on uncluttered canvas,
You draw orang laut² dreaming of tomorrow
On a boat pulling away in the muddy water
Until they are washed away from the scene.
They bend down, count the day’s catch,
Watch you run past them.You murmur in muffled strokes
How casting and hauling nets rob one of ease.
I strain to pick out Malay syllables
Frothing from your water, seeking release.Sampans in tiny arcs of reds and yellows
Jostle with tree trunks felled by monsoons
And refuse, cheap offering to your murky waters.
Pot-bellied merchants fan themselves;
Coolies in gabardines unload jade and antlers,
Your presents to the settlement,
Which returns the favor with detritus.Utterances in Babel tongues
Drown out hunger in your memory;
Above the ripples of primary colors
On another canvas lie ambition and usury.Cycles of drought and rain, urban renewal
Neither detain your dance nor silence your hum.
You are slighted by tourists distracted by the Merlion
Spitting in envy at the floating Sands garden.
Shoot a spray at the passing glory
As you rush home to the strait.
Twigs of time scrape against imagery
As you pass by and through me.A blank space on the wall awaits a picture
Of my whistling your gurgling song,
Of how your green waters inspire
Me to write blank verses alone.
¹ An exhibit at the Asian Civilizations Museum.
² Seafarers, the inhabitants of pre-colonial Singapore.
by Eric Valles
from A World in Transit (2011)
