Day 23

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Day 23 prompt:

Write a parody poem of a poet in the style of that poet.
‪#‎BONUS1‬: Singaporean poet.
‪#‎BONUS2‬: Not in the SPWM group.
‪#‎BONUS3‬: Not Edwin Thumboo.

– Even the Train –

What will avoid a bad morning jam? even the train?
But all roads lead to perdition, yes, even the train.
.
“our sleepers / slipping in this world” “Can you remember?”
Anyone! “when we thought / naught would halt” even the train?
.
After we boarded—That’s it!—We are left in the squeeze.
And as we bore the squeeze, we forgot even the train.
.
Wait was over. Where was I? Shuttles were on the house.
For compliments, my love, you’d take–what?–even the train.
.
Of the un-brushed commuter’s morning breath, I will say:
Extract ‘please’ from the halitosis, even the train.
.
How did Punctuality love you– no bus? no taxi?
He held just one thing back till he got even: the train.
.
This is URA’s site for a new development?
You tear by the Master Plan, razer, even the train?
.
After the peak hour–this was found in the station:
A lost phone, ashes from cigarettes, even the train.
.
What was I to expect if not the end of the track?
A depot for the lonely transport, even the train.
.
How the air wept, disconsolate, ponding streets in tears—
to shorten the queues, they extended even the train.
.
He would borrow a car, he would advance book taxis,
he would, to arrive just on the dot, even the train.
.
City Hall belongs pre-dawn to only me, just me—
free rides before seven-forty-five, even the train.
.
They’ve found the mistake that stalled you, but whose fault is it?
No one thing can be blamed, darling, not even the train.

(Insufficiently familiar with local poets, yikes! So here’s a parody of Agha Shahid Ali!)