Best Singaporean Poems
Variations on the Malay Pantun : The Old Man and the Short Story - VII-IX Continued
for Georges VOISSET, the "Master Keeper-Nurturer" of the Malay Pantun
Check out: www.stateless.mysite.com/Pantouns-20-Aout-2017.pdf
(The pantun line varies between 8 and 12 syllables and is most commonly found in the anonymous quatrain form. Cf " Poietics of the Pantun ", pp. 49-67 in T. Wignesan. Sporadic Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images and Stereotypic Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad : Cyberwit, 2008, xix-244p.)
VII
The One-Act Play's the favourite Old Men's roman fleuve
Experience shows Old Men how to keep the Wench in hell
They know how to stoke the Imagination with love
They need no how-to softwares to write a novel
VIII
The One-Act Play they say is still Old Men's mainstay
Though on Freytag's Triangle they slip down climax
The Wench cannot make Old Men still come up their way
Not so the Youngster his horns gore Wench's false syntax
IX
The Wench always seeks to milk Old Men in side-burns
Old Men know One-Act Plays don't box-office burgeon
Nor drips invested in banks ensure big returns
Not so the Youngster who banks his bit in oven
© T. Wignesan - Paris, November 11, 2018
Variations on the Malay Pantun : The Old Man and the Short Story (Continued)
for Georges VOISSET, the "Master Keeper-Nurturer" of the Malay Pantun
Check out: www.stateless.mysite.com/Pantouns-20-Aout-2017.pdf
(The pantun line varies between 8 and 12 syllables and is most commonly found in the anonymous quatrain form. Cf " Poietics of the Pantun ", pp. 49-67 in T. Wignesan. Sporadic Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images and Stereotypic Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad : Cyberwit, 2008, xix-244p.)
IV
During the intervals of the play the actors
Spy on older folk queueing outside the lone loo
The Wench in the hall twists and turns on spectators
Not so the Youngster his pen stiff in the igloo
V
Middle-aged couples in the audience flick through
The programme not reading even the title page
Long years since they thumbed dog-ear-ed novels stuck in glue
Not so the Youngster who jumps high from page to page
VI
Old Men trundle back to their seats trailing wet patches
Not regretting over-coat flirts with hat-check Wench
Old people read novels in bed but in snatches
Not so the Youngster who throws into works his wrench
© T. Wignesan - Paris, November 10, 2018
Variations on the Malay Pantun : The Old Man and the Short Story
for Georges VOISSET, the "Master Keeper-Nurturer" of the Malay Pantun
Check out: www.stateless.mysite.com/Pantouns-20-Aout-2017.pdf
(The pantun line varies between 8 and 12 syllables and is most commonly found in the anonymous quatrain form. Cf " Poietics of the Pantun ", pp. 49-67 in T. Wignesan. Sporadic Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images and Stereotypic Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad : Cyberwit, 2008, xix-244p.)
I
The Old Man often stops by the hedge or dark bush
His back to the World, the Youngster can hold his own
The short story is written through spurts in a rush
Not so the novel which calls for much breath word blown
II
The poem most write confines itself to the page
Cousin brother to the short story told in a day
Old Men take less time to leave the Wench in a rage
Not so the Youngster whose novels always end gay
III
Plays are staged with intervals peer to the novel
Essays take longer to read than the short story
The Wench smokes cigarettes waiting to stoke yell
Not so the Youngster whose next essay's more gory
© T. Wignesan - Paris, November 9, 2018
La capinera's wintering pieces of tropic tunes
The garden warbler's echoes of dark melodies
Post-colonial poets return by summering fortunes
Learnt by rote as sacred Oxbridge duties
Note
The French "pantoum" may be modeled on the Malay pantun,
or at least it may aspire to, but it does not adhere to its
fundamental compositional criteria. For the original prototype,
cf. T. Wignesan, "The Poietics of the Pantun" in Journal of the
Institute of Asian studies, Vol. XII, n° 2 (Chennai), March 1995,
pp. 1-15; reproduced with corrections in T. Wignesan. Sporadic
Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images and Stereotypic
Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad:
Cyberwit.net, 2008, pp. 49-67.
(c) T. Wignesan - Paris, 2012
Variations on the Malay Pantun : The Old Man and the Short Story - X -XII - Continued
for Georges VOISSET, the "Master Keeper-Nurturer" of the Malay Pantun
(The pantun line varies between 8 and 12 syllables and is most commonly found in the anonymous quatrain form. Cf " Poietics of the Pantun ", pp. 49-67 in T. Wignesan. Sporadic Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images and Stereotypic Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad : Cyberwit, 2008, xix-244p.)
X
Go West on horseback and fire pistols point blank
Union Pacific galloped at City Lights
The Wench prefers red-hot fire not bullets blank
Old Men let horses ride bareback on Wench sans tights
XI
Go West on quick-shunting trains and let fall frontiers
Go East on horseback and churn Post-Colonial craze
East or West the Wench licks the Master's rears and tears
Not so the Youngster his Beat poems Old Men praise
XII
Shunt not trains which Kipling coupled lest they break wind
Old Men returned from the East rest traumatic
The Wench can take any Beat grind save the hind kind
Not so the Youngster e'en pistol-packing mama flic
© T. Wignesan - Paris, November 12, 2018
I am a creator.
Jack of all trades but a master of none.
I am a procrastinator.
Just always want to have fun.
I am a poet, A composer.
With a mouth like an unloaded gun,
A Skateboarder, A poser,
What will they think of my father’s son?
I am 30 but I don’t feel I am,
More like a 14 year old trying to grow a moustache, which I can’t!
Hate social media but has FB and Instagram.
The notebook of my experience and a selfie of me so tanned.
Not too tall or short. Average height from my land.
I am neither an Asian nor Singaporean, I am just a Man.
Believe in a world with no borders as much as I can.
Hoping dreams will come true so I can stop to pretend.
I am in love everyday for this, I only believe is real,
Profess as much as I can to my dearest of how I feel,
Countless mistakes with no regrets are my life’s ordeal,
Although jumping off cliffs are my favourite thrill,
I trust not in politics. My mind shut off and sealed.
Trying to get out of this matrix and all sorts of bills.
I manage for a living in an industry too ill.
Only these words can help me confess and heal.
My passion is thought. Thinking of everything that could be.
In love with the stars and the trees. The Divine Beauty!
Lost in the darkness of night with faint twinkle stars in this bright city.
Living in these moments with highest times. Here, it is never easy.
Contented. Appreciate. My creations are my reality.
Spread Kindness! Our actions are our only legacy.
Mysterious life. Within me a singularity.
I am. No one else in this Universe is like me.
April 8th, 2015
Fariq Yusoff
Form:
Loss fills the air
As people queue;
Death can speak
~~~~~~~~~
A common thread
Links us in gloom;
Mindful faces
~~~~~~~~~
Dry humid March
National mourning;
Heavy hearts
~~~~~~~~~
Gratitude speaks
Multi-racial tones;
Heat wave trials
~~~~~~~~~
Gun carriage cortège
Last journey route;
Crowds salute
~~~~~~~~~
Heavy rains fall
People brave downpour;
Final goodbyes
~~~~~~~~~
Public affection
Never seen before;
Singaporean grief
~~~~~~~~~
Six days of heatwave
Hellish hot and humid;
Seventh day torrent
~~~~~~~~~
What a great loss
A Singapore icon;
Stuff of legends
~~~~~~~~~
Old and young
All races here;
Braving the rain
~~~~~~~~~
Sea of faces
Shouting your name;
Astounding legacy
~~~~~~~~~
Mood of the moment
Loss feeds the strain;
Sky oozes tears
~~~~~~~~~
You cried for us in '65,
2015 we cry for you;
History shows
~~~~~~~~~
Huge debt owed
Our hearts know that;
Rainy salute squares
~~~~~~~~~
See the flags
The heartlands wave;
Broken hearts wail
~~~~~~~~~
History will write
We will remember;
Lasting legacy
~~~~~~~~~
Two names stand out:
Lee Kuan Yew lived
For Singapore
~~~~~~~~~
A people mourn,
In your passing;
We gel as one
~~~~~~~~~
Rest now in sure peace
Your work is done;
Singapore prospers
~~~~~~~~~
Sign a few words
Condolence Book filled;
Gratitude uplifts
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
29 March 2015
Singapore
Host Nation Crass Action
It is downright embarassing to review a viral video clip...
Of a group of black attired chanting in unison to a beat...
Presumably they were out in full force as soccer fans...
Easily overwhelming the rival team and their travelling fans..
In their misbegotten zest to show ardent support to the national team...
They forgot about common courtesy and sportsmanship and behave so ugly...
They were dancing and chanting insulting phrases and unpleasant things...
Reviewing such a video clip and knowing they are fellow Malaysians, I am ashamed..
How much about Singapore do they really know, that they have to show....
Their animalistic bestiality in singing, Singapore Itu Anjing...
So very disappointing to see this, when it is merely a football match...
How could this ever has to come about, how could a host nation's fans be so crass....
Could it be decades of much lauded supremacy in race and religion in this nation...
Plus jealousy and animosity from unbridled misinformation about the Singapore nation....
That brings out this shameful animosity in crowd behaviour from a host nation...
The Singaporean nation has spurted head and shoulders ahead as a prosperous nation..
While the Malaysian nation has descended down the dregs of economy as if in a comedy show...
Whither comes this open hostility to belittle and intimidate the national team from Singapore...
O, Where is the graciousness and sportsmanship befitting of our nation...
Or has the scourge of acceptable corruption blurred the values of this nation????
Update:
https://www.nst.com.my/sports/football/2017/10/297479/fam-cough-us56000-fines-offences-asian-cup-qualifiers-kuala-lumpur
Hohoho...
How it stings, when fans, players, coach and and FAM are punished for misbehaving...
Will this be the lesson to to mind all and sundry the need for sportsmanship...
Flavors are thriving
For Singaporean cuisine
The vibe is viving.
THEIR ELOQUENCE IS UNMATCHED, THEIR INTELLECT SECOND TO NONE
?????
The tightening of a hangman's noose here in Bolehland gets underway....
Little by little the prosecuting team get their pieces into place to stay...
Today, the honourable AG graciously makes way...
For 2 highly regarded legal experts to lead the way...
In pursuing the world's largest kleptocractic case in the financial history of the world......
One that involves a much tangled web of deceit from Singapore to Luxembourg to USA....
ThIS financial scandal formally shut down 2 Singaporean banks and imprisoned some officials....
That these 2 legal minds are best suited for the enormous task of an effective prosecution ahead....
Is thoroughly vouched for by the AG when he soundly declared ...
That their eloquence is unmatched, their intellect is second to none..
Hohoho...
Stay alert, people, the slow wheels of justice in Bolehland is beginning to move....
The present 7charges of money laundering against a clown who was once a Prime Minister...
They are just the appetizers, a prelude to the main course that's yet to come...
The mother of all kleptocracies, the 1MDB money affair....
It is so huge and infamous, it must be handled with utmost care...
It needs full commitment and diligence from the best legal minds...
And our AG has duly declared, these two guys are the right guys...
So, for the rakyat awaiting impatiently for 1MDB further developments with bated breath....
The investigative paperwork is 60% done and is being readied....
Sit up, people, pay rapt attention, the legal drama is about to begin...
Bolehland and her AG team, they go up against an expensively assembled US legal team...
Put together by a desperate crook hoping to clear his name...
His reputation is in shreds, his klepto govmen all but history...
Jibby the clown is still trying to be funny, when zipping his lips should be a better alternative...
Hohoho....
You accommodated so many fellows
That they hybridized cultures of two
That they've treated me so much well
That they gave me an enjoyable mood
I've enjoyed it by my intrinsic will
And enjoyed it for the public good
I've once been accepted by full
And been trusted with possible could
I've been missing it since a sudden leave
And I've kept my pursuits in my heart
I've been waiting for the coming forgive
Till the going back has listed in a chart
I must honestly express my gratitude
As they offered me the life that I should