Yong Shu Hoong (b. 1966)

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SELECTED POEMS

Darkness Visible

In memory of Paul Hester (1959–2005), founding member and drummer of Crowded House

And then the world, made light, is freed 

By straps that slash the darkness, 
swinging the body from a tree in time 

To a beat pulsating within your head:

Syncopation (musical term), “a deviation from a rhythmic 
pattern” – am I falling slightly behind or surging 

Too fast ahead? Swinging, like how you oscillate
between extreme joy and unerasable

Gloom. The past, 
catching hold of the present 

Just as how the tribute song at the awards show 
will begin with “somewhere deep inside, 
something’s got a hold on you…”

As your life is fading out. 

In the music video, still chalking up views, 
no one can wipe that grin off your face.

Then again, who could’ve detected 
the despair and desperation in the beat 
thumping in time, as compared to 

Words or melody sung? 
The question remains aloft

Caught within treetop in a park 
close to the house that will no longer 
shudder with your mirth. 

by Yong Shu Hoong
from Anatomy of a Wave (2022)

 

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