A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
The Exhibition: Ever Present: The First Peoples Art of Australia (27 May - 25 Sep 2022)
photo by dsnake1
fill it to the max, uncle
we fill our lives with trivial messages,
regular feeds of obsessive social media,
unwanted buys from digital shops,
wonder when the next meal will stop,
and in the morning
we fill the sidewalks,
the buses, the trains,
the malls, the offices.
Jan 2023
********
The artwork : fill me
The Artist : Vernon Ah Kee; (b. 1967, Australia; )
Year : 2009
Media : Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Collection National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2012
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2023
A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
The Exhibition: Ever Present: The First Peoples Art of Australia (27 May - 25 Sep 2022)
photo by dsnake1
the sun does not set on our town, sometimes
The sun is setting over our shanty town. Mother calls us to come back for dinner. She has a loud voice. My sister and I stop playing with the other kids and run back home. There is a chicken drumstick each in our rice bowls. We are wondering what festival or ocassion it is today. Mother tells us that Aunty had won big in a card game today. Don't tell dad or Uncle or Grandpa when they come back from work.
Dec 2022
********
detail from the painting, photo by dsnake1
This painting shows stories from the artist's childhood on her father's Country of Blackstone, Western Australia.
The artwork : Palunya: that's all
The Artist : Dr Pantjiti Mary McLean (b. 1928, Australia; )
Year : 2002 - 04, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Media : Synthetic polymer paint on board
Collection of The National Gallery of Australia, purchased 2006
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2023
A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
The Exhibition : Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965.
photo by dsnake1
base jumpers checking the wind
look dear
the way is clear
to jump off the cliff
Aug. 2021
***********
The pandemic has claimed some in different ways.
The artwork : Amber Aura
The Artist : Eng Tow (b. 1947, Singapore; )
Year : 2011
Media : Chinese ink, acrylic and cast paper collage over washi ground
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2021
A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
The Exhibition : Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965.
photo by dsnake1
love poem on the 7th day of the 7th month
the moon
sliding onto
a tall branch
is trying
to get into your room
14/08/2021
**********
The artwork : Viaduct ( 高架桥 )
The Artist : Goh Beng Kwan (b. 1937, Indonesia; )
Year : 1962 - 1966
Media : oil on canvas
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2021
Day 46 of 'circuit breaker' shutdown, Singapore.
photo by dsnake1
Day 46
hi love we will get by
sometimes even manage
to squeeze in a pub
if not the sky and stars
above
will do.
Ain't it good to be alive.
undated, probably late 80's
**********************
Found this old poem in an old journal while spring cleaning during the lockdown.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2020
Day 24 of 'circuit breaker' shutdown, Singapore.
photo by dsnake1
Day 24
Two blackbirds perch on my air-con unit and debate the pandemic.
30/04/2020
**********
This is an American Sentence. Yes, two magpies really perched on my air-con unit this morning and made a helluva ruckus.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2020
A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
photo by dsnake1
wilted roses
wilted roses in a vase
wet tiles
after she has used the bidet
still
a scent of flowers
after she has left.
May 2019
********
The artwork : Nude
The Artist : Ta Ty (b. 1922, Vietnam; d.2004, Vietnam )
Year : 1953
Media : Oil on canvas
Collection Saigon, Nguyen Thi Lan Huong
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2019
A visit to the National Gallery Singapore.
photo by dsnake1
friday
this morning, it is sunny and bright
but was it that day in Golgotha?
did the birds chirp from the olive groves?
and children play in sand-dusted streets?
or was it just a mob calling for blood?
revised 03/05/2019
****************
The artwork : Untitled (Grey and Green)
The Artist : Arthur Yap (b. 1943, Singapore; d. 2006, Singapore )
Year : 1970s
Media : Acrylic on board
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2019
This installation : Illumaphonium by Michael Davis of the United Kingdom.
photo by YunPing
rendezvous
She said, "you should
come up here more often,
it is quiet and chilly
and i get a bit lonely",
but i am not too sure
because the boy Icarus
dropped into the sea
the other day while
we were trying to
fly to Mars.
09/05/2018
**********
My daughter was at the recently concluded festival I Light Marina Bay, and took pictures of the light installations there. She asked me if i would like to add some words to the photos. These 5 were the results. Not much, I know from more than 20 installations.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2018
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #30
So this is it, the final day!
what have i got myself into?
on waiting to be enlisted
early freaking 70's
so this is it
this is the mousetrap
sprung
i have been listening
to Uriah Heep's The Park'
speaking of loss
and needless wars
looping looping
till the track is
scratched thin on the vinyl.
outside just a floor below
the noon traffic lumbers by
horns angry, tyres screeching,
men swearing in dialects
strange that i did not
noticed it before
those noises
or the stand-fan
in the corner of the room
blades turning
stirring stale air
dust motes settling
on the linoleum
again
i am slouched on the
battered sofa
my mother yells me
to move my ass
nothing interest me now
maybe just the music
or the static
in the head
i am not even
angry anymore
and that's dangerous.
in a couple of days
the army will come for me.
30/04/2016
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #23
Day 23 and I have written how many?
what have i got myself into?
icy
in the time between
the first flame
and the last exhale
of breath
is
the bubbling
of death
on a heated tin foil
the quick suck of
white fumes through
a straw
before the bones break
the flesh tears
the ants
crawl on
clammy
skin
slipping
sliding
into
the poisoned
blood
as
the blades
are drawn
&
before
the dawn
icy
dead
the dragon is too mean to chase
23/04/2016
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #20
It's getting harder to write when you are not getting enough sleep.
what have i got myself into?
4 a.m. sunday morning
sometimes nights are like that
awash with shadows
the rain calling your name
the night grumbles and growls
nine floors below
blue red strobe lights, doors slam
the rain is falling, scattering
like silver needles
in the glow of streetlights
voices, muffled by the wind
a woman's plead
shrill, and angry words
take the brawl somewhere nabeh!
or maybe the rain is already
washing the blood
off the cold asphalt.
20/04/2016
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #9
This is crazy.
what have i got myself into?
returning
returning back
to camp
from the hills,
no one noticed
that
daylight had broken,
the toads
had stopped croaking,
only
our muddy boots,
our rifles rusting
from last night's rain
and
the grass,
green and
slick with dew.
09/04/2016
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #7
I wrote this in response to a prompt at a poetry site, Poets United. The theme was 'Citizenship'. :)
what have i got myself into?
citizenship
we were singing Negara Ku
in the mornings at school
happily swapping colourful stickers
of fishes and hornbills and flowers
then back to the playgrounds
trying to maim each other with hantam bola.
do we children understand then
when the adults talk urgently
of Konfrontasi and commandos
and a bombing in Orchard Road?
or the race riots that started at
the Gasworks, Chinese killing Malays
and the Malays hitting back?
do i not have Malay friends in school?
do i understand all these, a ten year old,
running barefoot, flying kites
catching fishes in drains?
and one day they said they saw a man
cried on tv and said we were on our own
and that night after the news
i saw that haunted look in the eyes
of my parents
it was like the end of the world
we no longer sing Negara Ku
and a new responsibility was
suddenly thrust upon us
Majulah Singapura!
07/04/2016
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #3.
I was at the grave of my late wife during the period of Qing Ming, to clean her grave and give offerings. I touched her portrait on the marble. She is lovely. She is.
what have i got myself into?
when she was reduced to ashes
to see her reduced to ashes
in a furnace
i am powerless
and nothing i can do
but to give a
lonely
weak wave
and every fervent talk of
life and death
is meaningless
for the night before
she was just a slab
of meat
in a casket
and to think
we used to talk
and laugh
about our small universe
and to
caress and care
every night
before we sleep.
03/04/2016
**********
same-day publication at my main blog, urban poems.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
SingPoWriMo 2016 Day #1
Certainly needs some reworking later.
what have i got myself into?
who moved my fries?
and here i am sitting in a cafe
fucking-off
with the other unhappy, loathsome
loafers
perhaps all in need of some help
with their time
watching the ice in that cup of coke
dying off
and trying to nurse that packet of fries
oh shit
so i feel like a stalker watching those
happy kids with their happy meals
those boys and girls from the nearby school
dating
on the pretext of studying biology
oh you can't fool me on that
and why the fuck was i here?
oh yes, trying to write a poem like this
because this is the month of april
maybe if i am lucky i can wring some verses
from this joint
but mainly it is because of the
free wi-fi
but damn, the fries are moving fast
it will not last till evening.
01/04/2016
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2016
Day #12.
Some observations in a park near my home...
badge from napowrimo.net
morning exercise
the pigeon
folds it's wings
shakes its fat body a little
waddles a couple of steps and shakes again.
morning chill
while nearby
a group of seniors
are doing a group calisthenics
trying to move in unison, flapping their arms
imitating flight
12/04/2014
**********
badge from napowrimo.net
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2014
Day #1.
Oh man, do I have to start with something like this?
Last Sunday, I visited a friend's grave during the Qing Ming festival. A tree around the area inspired this poem.
photo by dsnake1, with huawei smartphone
the tree
has this tree
grown wiser over the years
or has it become
lonely and sad
watching from the hillock
over road and cemetery
watch the old graves
exhumed
and the newly dead
lain in?
01/04/2014
**********
badge from napowrimo.net
Oh, man. this is it!
I would like to end the challenge with something uplifting, hopeful. Some of the stuff I wrote for this edition are pretty dark. :)
Oh wow!
image by dsnake1
why i was thinking of a lighthouse
because one night i woke up wanting to feed you
but baby, your face, like a moon in the cradle
your skin glowed like stardust in the moonlight
your breathing was the song of the stars
a faint scent of talc as the stand fan oscillated
i was holding a bottle of milk not wanting to wake you
just sitting on the cold tiles, looking at you
thinking you are the beacon in our lives, our lighthouse
your eyes were closed, there was a faint smile
your lips moved slighly, and i said i love you too
but baby, you do not yet know about the ways of this world
and it is better to keep it this way.
30/04/2013
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2013
Urgh! only two more days to go!
A fantasy tale today. A dark fantasy piece.
birds of prey
we wait
for the dusk
to scatter
the last of the
light
on cliff edges
that was once
the bastions
of mighty
citadels
and as the
last shards
of light splinter
and fall like
broken glass
we stretch
our wings the leather
taut with muscles
leap off
the precipice
soar over
the smoke & ruins
of a world
torched by
atomic fire.
29/04/2013
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2013
