Jonathan Chan, Singapore
friday evening
Blessed be the light upon the tiny dark plains.
—Leonard Yip, Edgeland Visible
bless the light that drapes upon the trees, glistening as a golden gossamer.
bless the roots that cause the earth to crumple, spilling down the walls of concrete drains.
bless the scampering of the monitor lizard, darting into grassy cover.
bless the arias that map the treetops, sparkling into scattered flocks.
bless the edges of blue and pink, the blending into ocular paint.
bless the dance of wilder grasses, the serrated line along the footpaths.
bless the leaves that kiss the forehead, curling over calloused concrete.
bless the cathedral formed of branch and frond, covering a tarmac aisle.
bless the balmy breath of emerald, rustling through a tattered mind.
and bless the calm of afterglow, coalescing in a wisp of prayer.
shabbat / nuakh
Tuas, Singapore
i.
rest is a matter of attention:
the gaze sharpens just long enough
for podcast intimacies and rustling
leaves to settle, carved into impression,
then definition. being supine takes
an intercessory shape, words
floating like incense, trembling
through the thickness of drywall.
ii.
heels dig into an enjambment of
sand, draped in vines and weeds,
the burst of unfurled petals
and burnished beans. leaning
into attention, the spillage of bud
and ripening fruit breathes a
spiritual patience. the sidewalk ceases
to be our final layer, folded upon
by wilder grasses, gentler canopies.
iii.
the sand, once reclaimed, frenetic
in its journey, learns again to rest.
it is held in place by an obstinacy of roots.
beside: the grains expand into boulders,
mounds. they wait to be shaken, rumbled,
and shaped. there are no crevasses
permanent enough for seeds to grow.
it is those that are abandoned who become,
again, the earth’s matter of attention.
Jonathan Chan recently graduated from Cambridge University with a BA in English. Born in New York to a Malaysian father and South Korean mother, he was raised in Singapore, where he is presently based. He is a naturalised Singaporean citizen. He is interested in questions of faith, identity, and human expression. He has recently been moved by the writing of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wendell Berry, and Ken Liu.
