when Kelantan River flow exceeds…
Monsoon History
The air is wet, soaks
Into mattresses, and curls
In apparitions of smoke
Like fat white slugs furled
Among the timber
Or silver fish tunnelling
The damp linen cover
Of school books, or walking
Quietly, like centipedes,
The air walking everywhere
On its hundred feet
Is filled with the glare
Of tropical water
Again we are taken over
By clouds and rolling darkness
Small snails appear
Clashing their timid horns
Among the morning glory
Vines
Drinking Milo,Â
Nyonya and Baba sit at home.Â
This was forty years ago.Â
Sarong-wrapped they countedÂ
Silver paper for the dead.Â
Portraits of grandfathersÂ
Hung always in the parlour.
Reading Tennyson, at six
p.m. in pyjamasÂ
Listening to down-pouringÂ
Rain: the air ticksÂ
With gnats, black spiders fly,Â
Moths sweep out of our roomsÂ
Where termites builtÂ
Their hills of eggs and queens zoomÂ
In heat. We wash our feetÂ
For bed, watch mother uncoil
Her snake hair, unbuckle
The silver mesh around her waist,Â
Waiting for father pacingÂ
The sand as fishers pullÂ
From the Straits after monsoon.
The air is still, silent
Like sleepers rocked in the pantun,
Sheltered by Malacca.
This was forty years ago,
When nyonya married baba
– Shirley Geok Lin-Lim
Assalamualaikum,
Selamat menyambut maal hijrah dan hari Asyurah 10 Muharam 1433.
ehmm…awal tahun hijrah yang lepas saya sekeluarga ada di Kelantan, gunung Stong. Nasib baik tak banjir
Salam dari Singapura.
bintangzohra
December 5, 2011 at 10:50 PM