The Angels

‘For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels…’ – Psalm 8:5


Common enough over the blocks, 
we’ve all seen them or so we think. 
More often if we’re honest the eye 

skates from floor to floor and then 
clean beyond, to the next tower
identically towering. 

To see them, or more properly 
to see the brushstrokes of their wings
embossed on the air, the mind must

slow, against its will, like a net 
ballooning into cold water. 
If we are quick, they, quickest, will  

disappear. No wonder the saints
reaching later for words, described 
them shimmering. For that is how 

we must seem to ourselves. Always 
afoot, never the chance to dive 
into the current of our own lives. 

Theophilus Kwek has published four full-length collections of poetry, two of which were shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. He is the 2023 winner of the Cikada Prize.