The Merlion by Alfian Sa'at
Monday, March 25, 2013 | 3:50 PM | 0 comments
(from: http://www.postcolonialweb.org/singapore/literature/poetry/saat/merlion.html)The Merlion
Alfian Bin Sa'at
"I wish it had paws," you said,"It's quite grotesque the way it is,you know, limbless; can youimagine it writhing in the water,like some post-Chernobyl nightmare?I mean, how does it move? Like atorpedo? Or does it shoulder itselfagainst the currents, gnashing with frustration,its furious mane bleachedthe colour of a drowned sun?But take a second look at it,how it is poised so terrestrially,marooned on this rough shore,as if unsure of its rightfulharbour. Could it be that,having taken to this unaccustomed limpidity,it has decided to abandon the seaweed-haunteddepths for land? Perhaps it is even ashamed(But what a bold front!)to have been a creature of the sea; look at howit tries to purge itself of its aquatic ancestry,in this ceaseless torrent of denial, drainingthe body of rivers of histories, lymphatic memories.What a riddle, this lesser brother of the Sphinx.What sibling polarity, how its sister's lips are sealedwith self-knowledge and how its own jawsclamp open in self-doubt, stillsurprised after all these years.""Yet...what brand new sun can drythe iridescent slime from the scalesand what fresh rain wash the sting of saltfrom those chalk-blind eyes?"A pause."And why does it keep spewing that way?I mean, you know, I mean...""I know exactly what you mean," I said,Eyeing the blond highlights in your black hairAnd your blue lenses the shadow of a foreign sky.It spews continually if only to ruffleits own reflection in the water; such reminderswill only scare a creature so eager to reinvent itself."Another pause."Yes," you finally replied, in that acquired accent of yours,"Well, yes, but I still do wish it had paws."
Published in One Fierce Hour (1998)
Some information about the Merlion can be found here: http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/culture-and-heritage/a-touch-of-history/landmarks-and-memorials/merlion.html
Some information about the Merlion can be found here: http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/culture-and-heritage/a-touch-of-history/landmarks-and-memorials/merlion.html
Labels: Alfian Sa'at, Stanley