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Two Poems

Two Poems

By Tania De Rozario

A Eulogy

for everyone poked so full
of holes, their own voice passes
through them, history escaping
the body in a series of echoes.

for everyone distilled into colour
of skin, choice of pronoun, place
of origin, length of hair, years, skirt,
name, limbs, medical record.

for everyone made to believe
that the petals of persecution
blossomed from the buds
of their own paranoia.

for everyone passed over in favour
of a name that seemed easier
to pronounce, was less of an assault
to someone else’s comfort.

for everyone accused of prolonged
adolescence, scars on their arms
marking time like a calendar, body
taking itself into its own hands.

for everyone blamed
for the stare, grope, catcall, assault
that cut like glass into flesh as if
they had asked to be broken.

for everyone deceived
into dreaming, everyone who left home
and family to provide for home
and family, returning with nothing.

for everyone pumped
so full of doctrine, the guilt which ate
into their bones made them believe
breaking them was the only way out.


NOTE: This poem first appeared in The Invisibility Project, curated by Jasmine Cooray.

* * * * *

Goodbye

How will goodbye sound now
that you are leaving? Will it resonate
quietly, resigned to its fate? Struggle
against its own definition? Collapse
like a lung deprived of air? Roll easily,
like a cliché, off the tongue? Crawl
up the spine, with creeping fingers? Split
the heart so neither remembers how
each was created from the other’s rib?

NOTE: This poem first appeared in Tender Delirium (Math Paper P).

Biography

Tania De Rozario

Tania De Rozario is an artist, writer, and curator interested in issues of gender and sexuality. Co-founder of EtiquetteSG, she is the author of Tender Delirium (Math Paper P) and was the 2011 winner of the NAC-SPH Golden Point Award for English Poetry. She is currently penning her second full-length book, And The Walls Come Crumbling Down.

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