Poetic Meditations: Two Singaporean Poets and A Personal Reflection

• Main Author: SINGH, Kirpal
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2011
• Subjects: Asian Studies; English Language and Literature
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1090
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In spite of the fact that technology has moved phenomenally forward in these past few years, the long-haul flights-such as those from Singapore to the USA still do provide a lot of time for rumination and contemplation. On my most recent such flight that took place about three weeks ago I read, reread and rereread two books of poetry that have just been released in Singapore. The reason why they have attracted my attention with such urgency is that they represent a small, but significant voice in the Singaporean poetic canon, a canon that has not usually been kind to what may be broadly termed the philosophical or reflective. So I thought it might be useful to share my reading of these books with a wider audience, especially such as Kunapipi’s readers who will be somewhat familiar with creative writings from my tiny island republic of Singapore.