Stephanie Chan (b. 1987)
SELECTED POEMS
Merlion Poem
(with apologies to Amanda Chong, Alfian Sa’at and Edwin Thumboo)
You came out of the sea,
skin dappled scales of sunlight;
riding crests, surfing waves, thrashing
through the waters of Development and Progress,
Droplets of saltwater
cascading off
your shining muscular torso,
you shook your magnificent head
from side to side
like a dog after a bath
but in slow motion
because you are too dignified
to do it otherwise.Oh Merlion,
Now you perch, resplendent,
on a curved tail.
Head held so high
Presiding over the river
that brought you to this land.Before you crawled out of it
and realised you couldn’t breathe outside of water.Gills snapped shut, you lost your life
at the mouth of the Singapore River.And people covered you in concrete
The way we cover everything in concrete
in this country.And made you a monument
to inter-species relationships.Oh Merlion,
how you sacrificed yourself for us,
throwing yourself at the feet
of our great nation.Oh Merlion I’ve never felt like this
about any animal before.But you are so much more than animal
Oh Merlion sometimes
you make me want to touch your scales
with my fingers, and tell you, its ok.
Everyone loves you now.Oh Merlion, sometimes
you make me want to do a call and response.When I say mer, you say LION!
When I say lion, you say, MER!Oh Merlion, sometimes I wish you had paws.
Then you could hug people!
Then you could hold me as I have always dreamed
Of holding you in my miniscule arms
that cannot even encircle your whole upper body.If you had paws you would probably hold…
A kris!I’m not entirely sure what a kris is
But it sounds relevant to this poem.Actually it sounds a bit dangerous.
But that’s ok Merlion
I like danger.
You can hold it to my throat.
While I stroke your glorious mane
and whisper into your ear, its ok Merlion.
You are big and strong and beautiful.
Everyone loves you.Then I will unsheath my own kris
and plunge it into you
while you cry out in
a unique and exotic roar
that sounds somewhere between
a lion’s mating call
and a dolphin’s click.I want to ride you Merlion.
The way your Lion Father rode your Fish Mother.I want to ride you Merlion
The way no one has ridden you before. Or ever.I will ride you wildly.
Through the oceans of progress.I want to ride you Merlion.
The way Simba would ride Flipper.
The way Mufasa would ride Nemo.
The way Free Willy would ride Simba’s mother
whose name nobody can remember.But I will not, Merlion.
Because it would be very painful for me.
Because you are covered in concrete.
Like everything else in this country.
