Lee Tzu Pheng (b. 1946)
SELECTED POEMS
Thamby
As long as I remember having brothers
he was one. "Thamby" we called him,
the gardener, kindly and strong; his smile
promising fun. (Somehow I don't recall him
working at the garden, though he must have done.)
It was natural to enlist him
in our games, when childhood did not
baulk at age or race, our world hospitable
as the sheltering flame tree we
played under, our hearts free
to savour holidays, and sun, and time.He taught us Tamil numbers on request,
the syllables super-rollicking to our ears, then
chased us in mock rage when we
in helpless mirth made nonsense of his tongue.
Once, locked in the outhouse loo, in hide-and-seek,
my sister and me he found, and when
we pretended not to know the game was up
he reached over the door and swatted us
with a giant papaya leaf, till we ran out
shrieking with laughter, but he did not mind.We left him when we left Katong
for the other side of the island; too far
for him to travel, father said. I saw them thank
each other, take their leave; then we
said our goodbyes, with heavy hearts, though soon
buoyed up by the thought of our new home.
I wonder if he missed us as we did him,our "Thamby", a part of our earliest days:
a friendship taking root, a kinship sprung.
I think he tended more than just our garden.
by Lee Tzu Pheng
from Lambada by Galilee & Other Surprises (1997)
