cycle (poetry) by ee tiang hong (singapore) / TENGGARA 1968

TENGGARA 1968
Dept. of English-
Univ. of Malaya-
Kuala Lumpur/ Malaysia

                                     EE TIANG HONG
                                                 (Singapore)

                                     TENGGARA 1968 volune two/ number one



                    1. Cycle

          Time and again the feeling overhangs
               That they would be the last
               The last gesture
               The last burden,
               The last words --
               The resignation of dark, being clouds
               The freedom to be won.

               And time and again
               In a passing wind
               The past, few drops of rain
               Sharpen the landscape,
               The new vista surprises and unnerves

               And then the emptiness in the calm
               Another round of drudgery,
               Assimmilation of the earth's warmth rising,
               Until again the stir
               The uncertain rumbles in the womb.


                  2. Mood

                delta
                of thoughts
                in the complacence  of the times,
                babels
                of brown leaves
                carried away, whirling,
                dumped on dull mangrove roots, 
                alluvium, mind. 

                coarse
                ketapang leaves
                hoarse in the breeze, 
                wing seeds,
                shreds of parchment,
                rattle
                on soft sand
                in the indolent afternoon.

                only the sea
                awakens
                and inspires,
                wave after gentle wave
                a challenge
                creeps upon the day's siesta --
                whispers of sadness from afar
                return, withdraw and return.

                echoes
                of the sea's insistence
                break on the memory
                flooding the beaches
                with longings
                for the nucleus of an amoeba,
                the fission, and the sumatras, 
                flapping

                over streams
                croaking for the floods
                that will overcome
                these banks and these hollows,
                overwhelm the saragasso
                of our despair,
                and in the fulness of their rage
                merge
                with the magnanimous sea.


                 3 .Likes and Dislikes

                These I relish:
                The freshness of a morning after rain,
                Wet leaves and flowers in a flood os sunshine,
                Old trees brooding like owls in cloaks of wisdom,
                A wooden hut engirdled by a languid stream,
                The aroma of tobacco after dinner,
                Good wine, good food, good women.

                These I would rather avoid:
                Insects ans reptiles and foul beasts
                Crawling and creeping like dark ulterior motives
                Or some repressed tendencies biding their time,
                Domesticated animals reeking of menstruation,
                Petty, mercenary women, black-hearted selfish men,
                The envious, the ungrateful, the deceitful, the ruffian.

                And arrogant public men
                Drive me to bedlam.


                 ee tiang hong
                

                 < TENGGARA 1968   volume two   number one>