Tse Hao Guang (b. 1988)

1. BIOGRAPHY

2. CRITICAL INTRODUCTION

3. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

4. SELECTED POEMS

• hyperlinkage

• Gongs, Alarms

• Losing Count

• glass elevator

• enclosing w/o blocking out it’s still transparent

• noises only reach me after crossing this silence

• The International Left-Hand Calligraphy Association

• All the Sounds of Mynahs 

SELECTED POEMS

All the Sounds of Mynahs 

Final crow proclaims its insolence alone,
is shot. Little boy, lost, decides to browse
unmarked back shelves of Sheng Siong,
finds a little nest. Mimosa grows and grows
vulnerable to breath. Who will talk to it?

Looking for cockatoo-sitter while family
plus maid visits Australia. Will pay cash.
Cannot draw a quartered tomato, biology
tutor needed. The swimming pool is fresh
or salt water also don't know—taste a bit.

Chickens come from FairPrice, bulldogs
from The Pet Safari, goldfish from Underwater
World. When too-early morning sun drags
me out of bed, the koel calls; I wonder
what new crime it's telling me to commit.

At night, all the trees in town come alive
with all the sounds of mynahs. Each tried
their best to preach to me. They believe
enlightenment has come. Put your tired
shopping down and squat, or lie, or sit.

by Tse Hao Guang
from Deeds of Light (2015)

BIOGRAPHY >