'The Planners' by Boey Kim Cheng- Elson

They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded,
filled with permutations of possibilities.
The buildings are in alignment with the roads
which meet at desired points
linked by bridges all hang
in the grace of mathematics.
They build and will not stop.
Even the sea draws back and the skies surrender.

They erase the flaws,
the blemishes of the past, knock off
useless blocks with dental dexterity.
All gaps are plugged
with gleaming gold.
The country wears perfect rows
of shining teeth.
Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis.
They all have the means.
They have it all so it will not hurt,
so history is new again.
The piling will not stop.
The drilling goes right through
the fossils of last century.
But my heart would not bleed
poetry. Not a single drop to stain the blueprint
of our past's tomorrow.


      I found this poem okay (which is good). I think it is about development and modernisation, how boring it can be because the buildings and structures are so ordered and organised in such a repetitive fashion ('in the grace of mathematics', 'perfect rows/ of shining teeth'), personally I feel that the poet is, by not giving the poem a definite structure, challenging the dull perfection of how everything is put together so neatly.

      However, the poet probably doesn't think that development is completely boring and bad, because he uses a lot of positive adjectives to describe the buildings ('with gleaming gold'- alliteration, maybe to really emphasise how neat and ordered the buildings are?)

       Personification is used ('Even the sea draws back and the skies surrender') to show how rapidly the city/area is developing and that this development is against nature, it seems to suggest that even nature is afraid of this rapid non-stop development.

        I don't really understand the last bit, but whatever. I think it's comparing art ('poetry') which is really free and expressive, to the buildings which are kind of the opposite of art, as they are all very perfectly organised in a way that it is boring and not very expressive? A blueprint is a design plan, so by saying that his heart 'would not bleed/ poetry. Not a single drop to stain the blueprint' of the future, I'm guessing he's saying that 1) art will not really have a place in the future? 2) he, who is a poet- an artist, will not do anything to stop this non-stop boring development? I don't really know :)
      
       By the way, 'past's tomorrow' is an oxymoron, I think.