The sky insists on unfurling
its vast emptiness overhead.
Today you are not here.
In your place,
the ghosts of our landscapes
raise the oceans in me.
Here is what floats up –
The riverside. The thickets,
the tamarinds. The derelict bridge.
Together on the endless beaches,
our hands outspan the moon.
Today you are not here.
Today you do not remember.
(What is to be remembered? how long
have I been an emigrant.)
Today you are not here by the silk tree.
Here we first fell in love,
here the first tree still waits.
SM Sumon is a poet and a social worker. He was born into a Muslim family in Madaripur and grew up in Barisal. He arrived in Singapore to work in the construction sector and support his family financially. In his free time, he enjoys reading books, writing poetry, listening to music, travelling and doing photography. He is a contributor to the anthology
Migrant Tales, and has had some of his poems published in newspapers and magazines both in Bangladesh and in Singapore.
Wahid Al Mamun is an Anthropology major at the University of Chicago. His poetry, which has won an Honorable Mention for Sing Lit Station's inaugural Hawker Prize for Southeast Asian poetry, examines the intersections between identity, race, and movement. Wahid also enjoys reading fake news. (Is this fake news?)
