Poem – Theophilus Kwek (Singapore)

Little India

Smiles are not returned in Little India
where dreams are stolen rather than softly scribbled;
shophouses shrink from each other, their mandarin letterings
dissolving alongside the Sikh script
beneath gold mango lassi
into dirty puddles.

The young bachelor
of commerce selling phonecards on the corner
can tell you that citizenship
means more to him than most Singaporeans
because it would take him off the streets

and the awkward Chinese couple
in the quaint souvenir shop wedged
alongside the pawnshop and the chili-man will say
it took them years to find a place
but now they are fighting for it.

You round the corner to the five-sided square
between Lembu Road and Desker
finding solace in the tick of carom boards and the
fluttering of many pigeons, an open space
where memories are flicked and mixed;
we disappear into ourselves
and become strangers

treading the dirty puddles.

Theophilus Kwek is studying at Raffles Institution. He is also a member of the Singapore Youth Orchestra and Raffles String Ensemble.

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