It's great!
It really works. Uncork it whenever you need to demonstrate
how horrific and paralyzing institutional abuse
is not something that is actually very new.
Kevin, we lived through that—
I know.
And you lived through it.
That's something that few
can claim.
They may have taken your pride, and filled you with shame,
but you remain.
You stood your ground,
and didn't resist,
even when you were detained.
Your mind held on tight,
and didn't insist,
even when their actions nearly drove you insane.
That's worth more than every minute of it.
That's worth more than writing a poem about.
That's worth more than every hair in this Merlionsman's psychoemotional mane,
and his real one.
In every single letter of your name.
An execution like this
will undoubtedly cause severe distress;
not just about the life that was taken,
but for the lives left behind, that must now process
why this feels like Spectrum all over again.
Don't let that bother you.
Don't let that hurt you.
Don't let that change the way you take off all your fear,
and how you choose to dress
the wounds, left behind by hyperabused people
who are terrified of how much less they think they are inside
than the man they just wilfully sent to his death.
You and I are not made of a different fight.
You and I are not some alien, Other kind
of Singaporean.
You and I were born on this island.
And if this is what it takes for some people to learn
basic human decency, and respect, and compassion,
then so be it.
I have, myself,
already died quadrillions of times over.
Let this be nothing but
one more painful, mesmerising,
unstoppable reflection.
Let us realise that we need no protection from ourselves;
we only need never lose,
no matter how fast the bottle spins—
our sense of direction.
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