no one thinks of politics when he is hungry
somehow, there is order in chaos...
photo by darksouls1 at pixabay
no one thinks of politics when he is hungry
i feel like
i am the crab in the glass tank at the zi char stall
staring at the raffia strings tied around the pincers
and trying to escape.
the waitress comes holding the menu askew and recommends the song fish head in black bean paste. the same fish that caused the poisoning cases some time back, no thank you i don't want to be another statistic. i order a plate of hor fun, you don't expect me to finish that damn fish head alone anyway? she saunters off, shouts something towards the kitchen and hides in the smoking zone to steal a puff.
The beer lady is next, walks over, smiles and asks how many bottles of Heineken I want. I blink. In my not too distant past, i can drink like a hippo, but no more. i tell her i just want a teh, she says something like uncle join that queue at the counter for your teh and walks off, swinging her bottle opener.
i feel like
i am the crab in the glass tank at the zi char stall
scratching at the thick glass walls before the chef
comes with the cleaver.
revised : 07/04/2019
*****************
actually, this is about politics. sorry, my foreign readers, lots of local terms.
This is also an intended entry for the 2019 Golden Point Awards poetry competition.
some foreign notes :
zi char - a hokkien term in Singapore (literally cook and fry) describing a Chinese food stall which provides a wide selection of common and affordable dishes, found in most kopitiams and hawker centres.
hor fun - Cantonese rice noodle strips stir-fry over high heat and served with seafood or meat.
teh - tea, from the Malay language, which was in turn taken from the Hokkien dialect.
song fish - Asian Bighead Carp, a freshwater fish.
uncle - no, not about relatives. any middle age or elderly man
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2019
no one thinks of politics when he is hungry
i feel like
i am the crab in the glass tank at the zi char stall
staring at the raffia strings tied around the pincers
and trying to escape.
the waitress comes holding the menu askew and recommends the song fish head in black bean paste. the same fish that caused the poisoning cases some time back, no thank you i don't want to be another statistic. i order a plate of hor fun, you don't expect me to finish that damn fish head alone anyway? she saunters off, shouts something towards the kitchen and hides in the smoking zone to steal a puff.
The beer lady is next, walks over, smiles and asks how many bottles of Heineken I want. I blink. In my not too distant past, i can drink like a hippo, but no more. i tell her i just want a teh, she says something like uncle join that queue at the counter for your teh and walks off, swinging her bottle opener.
i feel like
i am the crab in the glass tank at the zi char stall
scratching at the thick glass walls before the chef
comes with the cleaver.
revised : 07/04/2019
*****************
actually, this is about politics. sorry, my foreign readers, lots of local terms.
This is also an intended entry for the 2019 Golden Point Awards poetry competition.
some foreign notes :
zi char - a hokkien term in Singapore (literally cook and fry) describing a Chinese food stall which provides a wide selection of common and affordable dishes, found in most kopitiams and hawker centres.
hor fun - Cantonese rice noodle strips stir-fry over high heat and served with seafood or meat.
teh - tea, from the Malay language, which was in turn taken from the Hokkien dialect.
song fish - Asian Bighead Carp, a freshwater fish.
uncle - no, not about relatives. any middle age or elderly man
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2019
Labels: apathy, GPA 2019, heartlands, life, poetry competition, politics, Singapore, writing competition
posted by dsnake1 at 11:35 PM
16 Comments:
Food, you pray and eat or not eat. Or yes you will always be caught in that dilemma of crab-ness
Happy Sunday Cheong Lee san
Much✏love
Hahaha... I understood the reception... and thanks for the translations, other than The I'll pass on the rest : )
Nice to read you. I've been ill for some time but I just found out I may live another 10-20 yrs. God has a sense of humor eh!
Good luck with the 2019 Golden Point Awards poetry competition. Go Cheong!
Poverty is a cruel and effective tool often wielded by the selfish and destructive when they are in power.
You describe the scene so perfectly, I felt I was right there. I could SEE the waitress and the beverage person. And, especially, I felt the helplessness of the crab, awaiting his execution.
Fantastic stuff - an altogether sparkly, refreshingly original and delightful write for me to swinish with... Thanks a lot - love your work...
What a delight to read this poem. Making sure the customer is satisfied is not the same as encouraging them to eat or drink what they don't want and then if not successful going off in a huff.
To be a crab in the glass tank scratching the glass wall while waiting to be fished out soon to meet the cleaver...Ouch...There's no escape from the system. The whole world is like this. Suffocating.
Been to Singapore & Malaysia this year on a vacation for six days. Loved both and learned the word "Terima Kasih" :)
Gillena,
thank you!
i was just being crabby. :)
ZQ,
Please take good care of yourself, we want to read more of your poetry and refrigerator notes.
about the competition, i missed the deadline, that's why you all are reading it. :)
this poem inspired by just some observations at the coffeeshops around my place.
H,
glad you saw through the lines, of how us ordinary folks sometimes go through the day. :)
Greetings from Los angeles! I'm bored to death at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break.
I really like the information you provide here and can't wait to take
a look when I get home. I'm shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
I'm not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, excellent site!
Sherry,
thank you!
the two ladies are based on real people i have seen. and the crab too. :)
Scott,
thank you for visiting! :)
Robin,
what you pointed out is true. and can't blame the beer lady because she works on commission. more bottles, more dough. :)
Sumana,
Terima kasih!
no, there's no escaping the system.
so, how was Singapore? :)
Anonymous,
thank you! :)
I enjoyed it on the literal level - and I thought that maybe these choices are symbolic of choosing between political parties - none of whom offers an ideal option.
nailed it! metaphorically.
that's why i wanted to include it in my submissions. but it's too late now. :)
Agree
With u
Thank you, Ashok! So glad to see you. :)
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