About the Esplanade,

The country’s premier arts centre,

Opinions are divided.

For seen from above,

It does resemble a giant housefly at rest,

With huge eyes open.

 

Curiously though,

At ground level,

With steel slats all over the glass roof,

A seeming afterthought,

Against the blazing tropical sun,

It looks more like a durian.

 

The popular nickname is certainly apt,

For this “King of Fruits”,

Succulent though its flesh may be,

Akin to a chemical WMD,

Its notoriously pungent aroma,

Aptly describes some of what it passes off as culture.