A Review of While I Watched the Airplanes (2020)

A young poet’s inspiration soars while watching aeroplanes

“Erosion”, artwork by poet and artist Dorothy Yuan (provided by interviewee). This piece stood out for me because, as the artist’s statement states, “by juxtaposing both maps, the audience is encouraged to weigh the costs and benefits of Singapore’s development”.

In the 1990s, my father, brother, and I used to watch aeroplanes taking off and landing at Changi Airport. It was both a simple pleasure and a cheap thrill. Those were simpler days, where an evening could be spent watching and counting planes. And these days I love visiting Jewel, one of the most attractive malls in the world, in Changi Airport, one of the best airports in the world.

So, you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when Dorothy Yuan reached out to me to ask if I would like to review her first poetry collection that was inspired by “a fateful Sunday spent at Changi Airport’s viewing gallery”.

Like aeroplane spotting, While I Watched the Airplanes comprises of a poetry collection that takes a retrospective and observational approach to an array of relationships one could have, including familial, platonic, romantic, artistic, societal, and one’s self.

“Dorothy, your inaugural first collection of poems was inspired by a particular meeting at the airport. Can you share more about what happened?”

“The curation and title of While I Watched the Airplanes was inspired by a fateful Sunday when I spontaneously decided to head to the airport viewing…