Local poets cover Esplanade’s pavements with rain-activated poetry

Two months ago, we caught wind of Sing Lit Station‘s announcement of decorating our sidewalks with poetry that we can only see when it rains. You could even vote for the ones you wanted to see. Now, they’re finally here.

It’s the first time that the Singaporean literary non-profit is running this project, aptly named “Singapore Poetry on the Sidewalks” which was inspired by the similar Mass Poetry project in Boston. They’ve stencilled and spray-painted rain-activated verses from Singapore poems using a special paint. And since we’re heading into the rainy season in Singapore, we should be seeing a lot of them.

However, they’re still in the initial phase of the project, with four at the Esplanade sidewalks written by Singaporeans Ann Ang, Felix Cheong, David Wong and Simon Tay and two more at the Arts House by Gwee Li Sui and construction worker Md Mukul Hossine. Each of these excerpts revolve around the theme of national identity and migrant worker issues. You can expect more in the months to come.

Also, they’re currently crowdfunding the project on IndieGoGo to give a modest honorarium to all the poets who have contributed. Click here to check out their campaign.