Writing Exercises

Writing Exercise 1

I don't remember
The days I spent as a young child
Overseas with the *Golden Oldies,
At the time still ripe and relatively young
Sightseeing with more than eyes
But you need hands
The warmth of intertwining hands
Palms face to face
Lines running, crisscrossing
Wherever they meet
What am I saying
I am saying I don't remember
But I do
Only that these things are inconsequential in nature

I don't remember
The places I've been to
And I don't know
How fortunate I am.
They go: "Oh!
Your mother tells me you've been to
Cairns, and London, and **Glastonbury."
Er is the response strung by spiders
When they know not what convincing tale to weave.

And often the phrase
"I don't remember"
Comes with regrets
Because, why don't you remember?
Chides my left brain.
You've experienced it.
Now it's wasted.
But perhaps
If we don't remember
And we simply speculate
There is imagination.
And that speckle of creativity
Might well flow
Stronger and hotter
Like a stream of molten lava
And melt the iron lock
Which holds our memories captive.

Oh if we do
How wonderful it is to remember!
But how blessed it is not to remember
Old age need not be a factor
I am not old
But sometimes I think I am old
Because
I don't remember.
I don't remember
I don't
I

*parents
**not sure if it is an actual place

Writing Exercise 2

Neon.
Those neon advertising signs
Of an un-airconditioned restaurant
Selling prawn noodles.
The family was there
*Uncle Alvin, Ah Ee, Ah Ma, Ah Gong, Noah, Nathan, Naomi, Mummy,
Daddy and me
I have listed all of them from my fingers
I need not count but I know they're all there

After we eat I go to the pier
It is night time
And a thousand stars were twinkling
Or maybe just my imagination of cliches because
In Singapore, the stars are never as bright or as many
Poets would like to think.
The waters were black and the waves were roiling
Some skipped pebbles
But I wouldn't dare.

And us, the cousins and I
Played Follow the Leader
There was grass, and there was gravel
The grass was wet as it had just rained
And it brushed constantly against my feet.
There was gravel
But I'm going to tell you how it feels, later.

There was a moment in time
A push
A lull
And then a frantic tumble
As if they could not fall
Fast enough
Collapsed
On me.

And now I'll tell you how the gravel felt.

It hurt.

*Personal family names coined after years of familiarity. You notice that the word 'family' is in familiarity :)

Note: Writing exercises are something that make you write and write and write. You can write nonsense (Cleo: Nun-sense!) and yet ultimately it will help you write better and express your feelings about a subject more clearly and yes it does help, I guess, with writer's block, because you are not allowed to put your pen down, no, not even for a second to pause to think, and you can start with something small and insignificant and it may turn into an epic drama or play that lasts 24 hours running. I do hope the above wasn't ALL utter nonsense :)

"Pour your experiences into a mold."
Thank you Ms Jean Tay