the horse in my hotel room winks

the horse in my hotel room winks 

                  like a sommelier in heat & I can’t help thinking 


    
                of how knowledge	also 		   ages & 
  expires 


	 

					       as  the sun vomits
							        its                vengeance


						        on these cobblestones     sparkling & free
   	
   					     			      		         of remorse 
	                          



       when kissing a new man     	
   (or his semblance) 


          
         							    my mouth’s	    an    avid drill rig 





                   & I’m gouging out     the freshest truth   –
								




	 	   every day we find 			  
		      new ways of making         
                  do 
				        	







	        
           decimating a tax-exempt         can of    reindeer paté





    my blood boils 
 	    & I moisturise 
 

Daryl Lim Wei Jie (林伟杰) is a poet, editor, translator and literary critic from Singapore. His latest collection of poetry, Anything but Human (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize. He conceptualised and co-edited the celebrated anthologies Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet (2020), which won a Special Award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2023, and The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing (2023), shortlisted for Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Awards 2024.

In 2023, he received the Young Artist Award, Singapore’s highest honour for artists under 35. Daryl’s work has appeared in publications such as Poetry Daily, POETRY magazine, Poetry Northwest and Drunken Boat.