Poems, Angeline Yap
Maria S. Mendes
Angeline Yap’s poems focus on the simple, daily things in life, making us pay attention to them. A poem such as ‘Mound of Gold,’ a “count your blessings poem,” describes the custom of having mandarin oranges in the home “because the Cantonese words for gold and oranges sound almost identical. .... It's aspirational (as in ‘may you have plenty / wealth in the coming year.’) As a Christian, I would have prayed a prayer that the family - and my home/country - would be rich in harmony, peace, unity, joy, love, etc. and also that my family would walk with God in the coming year”.
A Mound of Gold
Unobserved, happiness settles
over everything, like a gentle dust;
over the kneading of bread dough,
the peeling of carrots for stew,
over putting a saucer of milk down
for the cat, and running your hand
through the soft prickle
of your boy's crew cut hair;
- you take it in, like the scent of soap
on your husband's fresh-shaved cheek;
like the dog's extravagantly wagging tail,
or the kitten's gravelly mew, and the lick
of his sand-paper tongue.
If you wished, you could try quantifying it;
gathering everything gently into a mound of gold,
using gratitude like a soft-hair brush,
then tipping it out of the tiny balance
and holding it (oh so carefully)
in the hollow of your palm.
Angeline Yap, “A Mound of Gold”, Fulcrum – an annual of poetry and aesthetics (USA), No. 1, “A Map of English-language Poetry,” 2002. Read here: https://fulcrumpoetry.com
Try Again Later
"We regret to advise that
the person at extension 4..2..6
is not at her station.
Please leave a message
or try calling again later."
Later.
"We're sorry, the person at extension 4..2..6
is not at her station. At the beep, you may:
press 1 to leave a message, or
press 2 for more options.
Alternatively, you may wish to try calling again later."
2.
"You have selected 2 -- "more options".
Please press 3 to speak to an operator, or 4 to hold.
Alternatively, you may wish to try calling again later."
3.
"You have selected 3 -- to speak to an operator.
We're sorry, all our operators are busy at the moment.
Please hold the line and we will attend to you shortly.
Alternatively, at the beep, you may:
press 1 to leave a message, or
press 2 if you wish to revert
to your desired extension.
Alternatively, you may wish to try calling again later."
2.
"We regret to advise that
the person at extension 4..2..6
is not at her station.
At the beep, you may:
press 1 to leave a message, or
press 2 for more options.
Alternatively, you may wish to try calling again later."
2.
"You have selected 2 -- 'more options'.
Please press 3 to speak to an opera ... ..."
3.
"Hello, Operator?"
"Yes?! Can I hep-chew?"
"I am looking for Miss Mary Lim.."
"What extension?"
"Extension 426, but..."
"Hold on ah"
"...We're sorry,
the person at extension 4..2..6
is not at her station.
At the beep, you may:
press 1 to leave a message, or
press 2 for more options.
Alternatively, you may wish to try calling again later."
1.
"This extension is not
recording any more messages
because the mailbox is full.
Please press 2 for more options.
Alternatively, you may wish to call again later."
click.
Angeline Yap, “Try Again Later,” No Other City - The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry, ed. Alvin Pang. Singapore: Ethos Books, 2000.
Angeline Yap is an award-winning writer whose poems have been in Singapore literary publications since her student days in the 1970’s. She has collaborated with writers and artists from Asia, Australia, the UK, and the USA. Her poems have been read or performed in Singapore, Australia, Edinburgh, Finland and elsewhere, over radio & television, during Arts Festivals, in libraries, museums, parks, & even a converted Australian jail! Some poems have been translated, and others set to music for choir performances in Singapore and internationally. She works with young people through workshops and seminars, and was honoured for her contributions to Singapore’s Creative Arts Programme.