How many men does it take to shoulder the casket of an elephant? How many teak plants needed to make an elephantine coffin?
Who wouldn’t be a polar bear in the tropics?
A solitary last emperor, an Arctic ambassador
paddling a marionette dance in his own lagoon
With my own jaws,
I chewed off my wings.
They nourished me till
my first eggs were laid.
Mālama
A Pu'olo is a gift or offering. A sacred Hawaiian precept goes "Anywhere you go, take an offering with you".
this is how they begin, until the steadily humming morning peeks out from over the horizon to make everything a part of its yellow glow.
After the egg was laid you left
God protects it
After time shifts by
God protects it
She is carefully crafted grace,
long legs ready to lope in retreat
when a misstep or hot breath
makes her ears twitch.
We enter the world wailing, fighting for breath.
First breath assaults the skin, offends the body.
Insulted, we weep, unsure we want to be here.
Issue 2 of The Tiger Moth Review is proud to present the poetry, art and photography of 29 contributors from Singapore and around the world, who each offer unique ways of seeing and engaging with nature, the environment and the world we live in.
Hanami refers to enjoying the transient beauty of flowers. The beauty of these lovers is also transient; it changes, fades and dies, but like the petals of the cherry blossom, is reborn again.
Here, I feel the earthly space
‘God is Great’ reverberating through the mihrab
caressing the wanderer’s solitude
Even in rain’s stinging wind, I
can see a wave of leaves swell
& tumble, like the tide coming in-
to shore with its bits of glamor—
I wait until all earth is quiet
and land falls away,
one side a map
outshining blue light