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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

seascape by Ho Poh Fun

 

arthur yap: acrylic on canvas, 1990

if the sea could dream a dream

engage in mood
the most rejuvenating gleam
in shoreside aquamarine

bright gem-spread splash of colours

turn pale the wide encircling coast
with vision of fecund loveliness

the sun above would be raining gold
and deck with jewels the waterbirds
come feeding amidst the spume

endear to me each dipping head
engulfed by faith each rhythmic break
bestowed by sea
a pastoral

if the sea could dream a dream

transmit to mind the gentlest thoughts
reposeful release to hours

lay bare the filaments to love and peace
celebratory on waters

yours could

— Published in Katong and Other Poems (1994)

Ho Poh Fun (1946-2018) was a teacher, poet and writer. Throughout the 1980s, Ho’s poems were published in The Straits Times, while her fiction also appeared in Tanjong Rhu and Other Stories (1986), a collection of four prize-winning titles from the 1982 Short Story Writing Competition organised by the former Ministry of Culture. Katong and Other Poems (1994) is her only poetry collection.

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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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