Author Archives: wongswyn

Tuscan Irrelevancies II: why not Asciano?

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A mid-distance photograph of the ancient Tuscan hilltop town of Cortona, with its historical buildings and bell tower nestled into a lush green hillside dotted with cypress and olive trees. The image's quiet beauty and timeless feel serve as a visual counterpoint to the poem's comparison of Cortona's fame to the historical obscurity of Asciano.
Cortona under cloud
Is it your ancient Etruscan walls, melon tombs 
monumental funerary altar
tabula cortonensis
strategic control of territorial swathe

I too have my Etruscan necropolis, Roman baths
central position
anchoring Creta senesi, River Osborne 
and torrent Copra

weren’t we both then
largely abandoned by history
suborned by wealth subdued by battle
slumbered through a count of centuries


what sly whimsy decreed that you be
favoured destination for spending sprees
while a-straddle the autostrada
i am the one to fade away 

Under the Tuscan Sun

Tuscan Irrelevancies I: roadside encounter

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A close-up, low-angle photograph of a small snail with a distinctively striped shell, moving slowly across a gravel road in Tuscany. The image, with its shallow depth of field, draws attention to the subtle beauty of the snail, contrasting with the poem's theme of a trip to iconic Italian landmarks.

It’s a trip marked fully by the fully marked
Portents abounding from Rome to Florence to Cortona
Every step to the Brunelleschi cupola worn by forebears
Every snap in the Ufizi stale before the iPhone is aimed
 
Sunday afternoon taking out the trash to eco appropriate bins
(Even this task not mundane but meaningfully marked  
so glass does not mingle irrelevantly irreverently with gross)
one finally has a roadside encounter shared only with the divine

History is simply

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the life my mother lived
A vintage, ornate black sewing machine on a wooden table with a classic iron treadle base. The image of this bygone domestic 'timepiece' serves as a visual element for a poem exploring history and nostalgia during a trip to Penang

and the life she did not
A classic, red, and chrome-plated jukebox with an illuminated bubble-top, a visual reference to a bygone era of music. The image captures the nostalgia of 'old melodies' and serves as a visual element in a poem about history and memory in Penang.

crunched close by curation
into sequence not choice
as if that taste 
nostalgia on my tongue
wasn’t paid by her
whom i sometimes glimpse
on Sunday visits
behind faded eyes

Unwoke (aka Narrow Vision Loss)

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IMG 2600


my one-eyed day
begins in Munich 
with bacon and scrambled eggs
in a business class lounge
because the ticket calls for it
and poetry doesn’t have to be poor
or accessible or full of insight
the crass
the mainstream
the poor privileged
deserve their voice too
properly plural
don’t they



my one-eyed day
ends in Zurich 
with a latte in a big blue cup
in a cafe called kweer 
because my aching vision is tired
and woman-watching need not oppress
or be exploitative
the gaze
deserves its 
unenlightened moment
even if we dare not admit it
and will hide this away 
from censors
prone to cancel

Sunday Perch: Tongue-twister

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A photograph of a large monitor lizard resting in a patch of sunlit green grass in Singapore. The lizard's posture and the post's title, 'Sunday Perch,' create a playful visual pun, while the term 'Tongue-twister' alludes to the lizard's distinctive flicking tongue.

Sunday Perch: Defying Gravity

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A vertical, close-up photograph of a green praying mantis perched on a slender blade of grass. The insect's delicate and unique posture, which appears to be 'defying gravity,' is the subject of the post's title.

Sunday Perch: Bellhop

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A macro photograph of a unique, White-plumed Moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla) perched on a plant. The insect's posture and appearance resemble a 'bellhop,' which is the clever wordplay in the post's title.

rushing into the rain

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this is the part of the walk I mark
when the sky grumpy all afternoon
could just as easily clear

that instant when
it could still be fine or storm
familiar as your up or down
daily attending that turn
from balmy to squall 

that instant when 
it growls and downs its load upon 
the families scurrying for shelter

that instant when
i go the other way
rush into the rain
as I have always 
fallen into your pain
IMG_7172.jpg

Sunday at the Manulife Nets

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grandpa and ma
will bring them to the Jewel
this weekend

at the entrance they will display
4 tickets to the nets
booked hastily for some time
when promises were forever
because parents are free
and children good at bouncing back

A photograph of adult and child on a suspended, bouncy rope net high above the ground at the Manulife Nets attraction in Changi Airport.

What money cannot buy

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losing your partner after 60 years
loving your partner for only 30
    but so finely you can no longer
    tell which days were which
    and must mourn as if
    for every one