Dew
Cyril Wong
Leaves dream
of morning dew
that dreams of leaves.
Dewy leaf upon
leaf after leaf
of dew on leaves
leavening leaves
of dew. Leaves
leave dew to dew
over themselves.
Dew leaving leaves
to mourn the leaving
of dew. Less dew or
nothing without leaves
unfurling tongues
to pool the drool;
no eye or half-sun
in every spit of dew.
Rheumy leaves,
dewy cataracts.
When dew is due,
leaves make do;
these leaves will do.
A shared dream
of tumult or danger
leaves leaves
with residue of dew.
Leaves but also
petals of limitless
hue spread and hew
to the advent of dew.
Beads of perspiration
or airy urination
as benediction,
maybe holy visitation.
Hapless, bulbous
tabernacles of dew.
Godly dew, save-us
dew, redeemer,
angelic, baptismal dew.
Not forgetting dew
must do whatever
it takes to dew.
When dew may pray
to reach the shore
of leaves, made more:
glass balloons
of selves blown brief
but whole. Entreaties
left unanswered
once and for all: leaves
longing for dew that long
for leaves, every desire
for more or less
the selfsame desire.
Existence and eternity;
darkness and star;
forest and sky;
earth and rain;
leaf, petal and dew.
Cyril Wong is a poet and fictionist in Singapore. His last book was Infinity Diary, published by Seagull Books in 2020.