MERLION
BOBBY SUN
“it tries to purge itself of its aquatic ancestry,
in this ceaseless torrent of denial”
- “the merlion”, by alfian sa’a
in this ceaseless torrent of denial”
- “the merlion”, by alfian sa’a
eyes firm on the horizon, it
draws in the sea and tries,
in reversed excretion, to
make it cleaner, to purge
the water through itself.
a gesture, perhaps, of
regret, an apology for its
mythlessness: the aquatic
and terrestrial merged in ancestry
without ancestors. in
the guts of its stony frame, this
manifests as a ceaseless
weathering; a corrosive torrent
reverting the alloys of
its pipes to their bases; a denial.
draws in the sea and tries,
in reversed excretion, to
make it cleaner, to purge
the water through itself.
a gesture, perhaps, of
regret, an apology for its
mythlessness: the aquatic
and terrestrial merged in ancestry
without ancestors. in
the guts of its stony frame, this
manifests as a ceaseless
weathering; a corrosive torrent
reverting the alloys of
its pipes to their bases; a denial.
Bobby Sun is a Chinese-Malaysian writer and spoken word poet who grew up in Singapore and is studying in London. He is currently a member of the 2016/17 group of Barbican Young Poets. His poetry has previously been published in the inaugural Singapore Poetry Writing Month (“SingPoWriMo”) anthology (as Robert Bivouac), Rambutan Literary and the murmur house.
