Joshua Ip (b. 1982)
SELECTED POEMS
grandmother shows us her $3 comb
she sleep the bed in front of me down there
snore very loudly but then i also
don’t sleep a lot. aiyoh, ah seng, don’t stare,
that one not her. that one new one i dunno
is who. you know four years already
she stay here, nobody visit her,
not like you all come see me, hear story.
she ask the nurse, nurse say no visitor.
then she ask why. last week they carry her
the fat nurse say, aiyah, so heavy. when
they carry me out that time, i hope lighter.
nobody here wants to be a burden.
last monday she come here, give me her comb.
i don’t know put where, so i buy this one.
by Joshua Ip
from sonnets from the singlish UPSIZE edition (威力加强版) (2015)
