Tanjong Pagar

For Tien Li


Nightlights, waterfront, speedboat
Lights dim, recede from the rim of water and land
Whether on promontory or out in an island.

In a culture of organised statements and thoughts
Where civilisation becomes civil.

A sense of adventure
An element of the unknown
Where am I to be in obedience to Christ?
The thinking involved, the independence
Not just on Sunday morning, but a decision we must make continuously.
To be a good doctor, a good dancer
This still is the focal point
Whereupon, turning around with head spinning
You focus on a spot.

What is this imagery--
Here comes a dreamer
(But I will show him how much he must suffer)
What is this imaginary--
The Master sends, but he has already gone ahead.
To bear these tests, to be the best even when the situation is not the best.
Where danger and opportunity meet
In crisis, the door open to complete
What was begun, ere day is done.

Keep the robe not for a special occasion
But wear it every day
Use these gifts without exception
Or watch them die away.
The heart with nothing to love becomes unloving
The one, not used to forgiving, becomes unforgiving
As cold water turns to ice, frozen and never moving.

Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?

Take on me, take me on
Look out for the "a-ha" moment
But it doesn’t come; you are dry on inspiration.

Pen and pencil,
Stencil to trace the shape of the road ahead.
A boy dams a river, a sliver of hope
That water won’t just rush through,
Flowing into stillness, in the absence of motion
Still flowing—the water a bed for life.


(November 2010)