When given the opportunity to present one of Singapore’s most eminent poets and playwrights with a prompt for a new poem, ‘love’ may seem like an unusual choice. But love poetry is exactly what Alfian Sa’at began his career with.
Sa’at’s first collection of writing was distributed unofficially to friends and colleagues long before it was published. Titled The Invisible Manuscript, this was a series of poems and prose fragments intimately documenting the experience of queer longing, giving voice to a minority still fighting to be recognised today in Singapore.
Sa’at’s love poem for Vogue Singapore’s ‘Voices’ issue weaves through similar tunnels of emotion. In Pemergianmu, which translates to Your Departure, he writes tenderly about yearning for a lover in their absence, finding reminders of their time together in places he doesn’t expect.
The poem is penned in Malay—Sa’at’s mother tongue and Singapore’s first language—which influenced, in part, its form and style. “There are different poetic conventions in English and Malay, which affects the type of poetry produced,” he shares. “Sometimes it’s a question of form, such as the Malay pantun, or the English sonnet. The vocabulary available in each language will also determine the range of expressions.”
“I find that in Malay, for example, there’s a wider range of words to describe something that smells bad—depending on whether the source is fish, goats, sweat, urine or old clothing.”
The process of translation, too, can influence the way a poem is interpreted. No matter how thoughtfully it is done, a few precious instances of nuance are lost as the poem is translated from Malay to English. “The word ‘dasar’ means ‘base’, but it is also used in the phrase ‘dasar laut’ to mean ‘sea bed’. When I used it in the phrase ‘dasar cangkir’, it has a sense of something deep and fathomless that is missing in the English translation of ‘bottom of the cup’.”
There is, after all, a unique romanticism that only our mother tongue possesses. No matter how pristinely translated, nothing can replace the intimacy of the language we think in.
When asked if his poem is dedicated to anyone in particular, Sa’at reveals sweetly that he had written it with his partner in mind. “In response, I received a suggestion that I write another one titled “Your Arrival”. I have yet to get round to writing it.”
Below, see the original poem in Malay, accompanied by an English translation done by Sa’at himself.
Pemergianmu
By Alfian Sa’at
di sini di sana
bekas-bekas
pemergianmu
here and there
traces
of your departure
lingkaran hitam pahit
di dasar cangkir
a black bitter circle
at the bottom of the cup
cermin yang menggandakan
kekosongan kamar
a mirror doubling
the emptiness of the room
tirai yang menapis
sinaran silau
curtains gauzing
the sunlight’s glare
di bawah selimut
pahaku mengeram
segumpal dingin
under the blanket
my thighs incubate
an icy lump
di dalam tandas
aku menyentuh
kelopak bunga putih
in the bathroom
I touch a white petal
rupanya sabun tipis
dikikis badanmu
realising it is soap
eroded by your body
The October anniversary ‘Voices’ issue of Vogue Singapore is available for sale online and in-store.
