for Pulau Sudong, a tiny island off the southern coast of Singapore
inspired by Forrest Gander’s “Anniversary”
casting out still reeling from heady hash
whiff of scaley waft wet lumber
grates against tender fingers
sweet acrid fumes swirl riot
turn reel let out line
taut pressure on watch
splayed horizon splits sight
blurry dizzy motion churns
repast into buttered wave
emptied bowels bleed along
cracked grain of smooth board
flesh torn but tempers hold
(because I do not want to be known always by my wounds)
on the precipice
where choices are made
one more breath
one more step
clawing – ineffective against glass
seeking – purchase against innocence
because I do not want your words to define me
Ju-Lyn Tan lives in Singapore. She aspires to share joy and beauty through her writing. She is a regular contributor to Visual Verse: An Anthology of Art & Words, and has poems in “Contour: A Lyric Cartography of Singapore” and “Seven Hundred Lines: a Crown of Found/Fount Sonnets”.
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