was discovered in a
 keong saik shophouse
 in a pile of old newspaper,
 its body bookmarking
the obituaries page
 
was extricated, exhumed,
 explained: "we must not
 forget that this country
was not too long ago
 a savage place",
 
and was then tucked away
 in the history museum,
 unseen by all
 
except an old man,
who, lone visitor
 in the hollow silence,
 parted his parched lips,
 and whistled a tune
 that the creature itself

had long forgotten