If this turns to friendship, it only meansThat one of us will suffer.That when we meet after the worst of endings,There will only be this skein of words between us—Most of them for boredom, fewer for loneliness—Rising out of our mutual space of breath, leavingBehind a bluer sky each moment of departure.And one of us will cling on to its blue,Hung on partings like a muted cloud, whileThe other rides on a wing of word away from here.

~ Cyril Wong

Cyril Wong Absence Below Absence Booksactually Boredom Clouds Endings Friendship Hope Inspirational Ireadbooksactually Love Lovers Mathpaperpress Past Poetry Present Sglit Sglitftw Singapore Literature Skein Sky Suffering Wing Wings Of Love Words

Later, you told me what your mother had said. How your father, the farmer, rose up slowly. You told me how your mother wailed on the other end of the phone, grieving her loss and complaining about the basketball of a goitre perched on her shoulder. She told you, your father walked onto the veranda and saw a chook floating ten feet above the ground. The chook didn’t flap a feather and just sat there brooding, swaying in the breeze.

~ Jon Gresham

Jon Gresham Belonging Booksactually Company Desires Grief Hope Ireadbooksactually Jon Gresham Literature Longings Loss Parents Prose Rising Rose Up Sglitftw Short Stories Singapore Literature Support Vulnerability We Rose Up Slowly

She tried to remember all the times she had spoken to him. She replayed every moment she could remember at the beach last week. Not once had she led him to believe that she liked him improperly. And yet, last night, he had appeared as if she had invited him. She had given herself so willingly, so lasciviously, that he must have thought she had desired him all along. Perhaps she had, or perhaps she had not realised how pleasurable intimacy could be.

~ Mahita Vas

Mahita Vas Anchoring Attachment Belonging Booksactually Feminism Future History Home Homelessness Intimacy Ireadbooksactually Leaving Love Math Paper Press Memories Memory Moving On Past Rain Tree Reminiscence Roots Sglit Sglitftw Singapore Literature Uncertainty Women

You yearn to stay in this in-between place, where the beauty of the times you have freshly bade farewell to is still alive and vivid in your mind – almost real – and the reality of your new circumstances has yet to fully sink in. You listen to the familiar melodies that had accompanied you on your journey, and allow the music to evoke landscapes and scenes in your mind. The songs caress your sub-consciousness and fill your being with an airy joy. You are both here and elsewhere. Or perhaps you are everywhere and nowhere.

~ Agnes Chew

Agnes Chew Anchoring Attachment Beauty Belonging Booksactually Consciousness Country Desire Empowerment Farewell Home Homelessness Independence Individuality Inspirational Ireadbooksactually Love Melodies Nationality Present Prose Reality Roots Self Assurance Self Awareness Self Containment Self Determination Self Esteem Self Reliance Self Respect Self Sufficiency Self Trust Sglitftw Singapore Literature Singlit Space Travel Wanderlust World

Moments later, I was climbing nervously into the back of the car. The driver wore the archetypal expression of an antagonist. No words were exchanged beyond the brief lines uttered to this nameless stranger, whose inclinations remained unclear. The car sped along empty roads and traversed dingy alleyways. Music blared from its speakers. I did not remember exhaling throughout the entire journey.

~ Agnes Chew

Agnes Chew Anchoring Attachment Beauty Belonging Booksactually Consciousness Country Desire Empowerment Expression Farewell Home Homelessness Inclinations Independence Individuality Inspirational Ireadbooksactually Love Melodies Memories Music Nameless Nationality Past Lives Present Prose Reality Roots Self Assurance Self Awareness Self Containment Self Determination Self Esteem Self Reliance Self Respect Self Sufficiency Self Trust Sglitftw Singapore Literature Singlit Space Stranger Travel Wanderlust World