Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet Excerpt (Poetry)

During my last reservist stint, in Ama Keng,

that unmistakable waft: like garbage and onions

and liquid petroleum gas all mixed in one. We jerked

our helmeted heads upward, and saw the spiky bombs.

Durians ….

— Toh Hsien Min

I burn the toast while reading old love letters

but the eggs are fine, to be sixteen,

when someone squeezes juice for you, perfects a

runny egg for you, spreads margarine

on toast for your convenience, leaves time

to idly ooze your prose across a page

— Joshua Ip