The pineapple's prickly, tough exterior, Gives way to juicy sweetness, beyond compare, The papaya's musky, tropical charm, Transports taste buds to a distant farm.
"Oranges like miniature suns apricots like tender flesh jackfruits like dense greenery"
At dusk the stallkeepers fold their cloth like maps, coins clink, the day’s fruit settles into sacks. We carry away the evening’s bright contraband, a paper bag of dusk and sweetness, and for a while the city tastes of orchard and recall— of summers stretched and folded, of seasons kept in pockets, small and miraculous as a seed. fruits poem by goh poh seng
Mangoes sweat their perfume into the air, syrupy and dangerous as first desire; custard flesh that drips like apologies, or declarations, sticky on a lover’s chin. Bananas hang in lazy crescents, mellow gold, their skins mapped with brown like old lovers’ letters. Pineapples wear crowns of hard green hope, prickled armor for a heart too sweet to trust.
Beneath the vivid descriptions of local produce lies a complex web of thematic exploration. Goh uses the marketplace as a microcosm for larger societal and psychological shifts. Cultural Identity and Belonging The pineapple's prickly, tough exterior, Gives way to
Ultimately, "Fruits" serves as a reminder of the quiet, natural miracles that provide sustenance and emotional "homeliness" in an often-turbulent world. Goh Poh Seng / SIX POEMS
Third, . As a doctor, Goh knew rot. He knew the necrosis of tissue, the speed of decay. The "purple rind" of the mangosteen mirrors a bruise; the "silver spoon" could be a scalpel. The poem quietly asks: If this beautiful rambutan can spoil in a day, what of my flesh? What of yours? Mangoes sweat their perfume into the air, syrupy
Goh belonged to a generation of writers tasked with inventing a distinct "Singaporean" voice following independence in 1965.
The poet describes the "quality in ripened, resplendent fruits," highlighting how their "swollen" and "rounded" shapes, cultivated by "fertile soil" and "nourishing daylight," bring joy and contentment to both children and adults. The text focuses on the visual and tactile richness of the produce, framing it as a,, nourishing, and,, perfect creation, as noted in this study document from Scribd . The Metaphor of Ripening: Time, Process, and Completeness
Compare his work to other like Edwin Thumboo or Arthur Yap