Malim Nawar
MORNING
martin bradley
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Malim Nawar Morning copyright 2014 Martin Bradley ebook published by Dusun (non profit Kuala Lumpur 2014 free download
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publishers)
Malim Nawar
MORNING a prose poem
martin bradley
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surreal hummingbird morning garden papaya drips dew kingfishers flash blue against candyfloss sky Judy Collins sings of Chelsea warming chill of my jeep cabin softening hard pangolin killing road taking me back to the three cat stooges in
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my compound warming sun brings bougainvillea bright golden helliconia jasmine and that mangy mangled one-eyed thief into my kitchen stealing fish brighter hotter morning sky cleared to pale blue sun pounding grass to
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yellow bleaching paintwork sending cobras slithering for shade another languid day in Malim Nawar post colonial lost tin town forgotten as the centuries and railway track passes leaving Mrs Hameed’s Bollywood Restaurant feeding post Ramadan thosai eaters
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sitting between time and teh tarik another hot day in Malim Nawar Malim nowhere sun pinches forehead furrows hand shades eyes shouty woman resumes after metal rabbit break mandarins roti cannai puffed and ready to go stray dog sleeps
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adjacent to rail line honda 50 bumps up and over footbridge stopping momentarily gawping at post colonial houses brick columns cats sheltering children cockerels pecking colonial remains erhu sitar sweet sounds filling
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ears hearts emptiness left by materialism rivalling nightly caterwauling another fine day in Malim Nawar Adam nets mining pool fish Yusop stretches tea cup to enamel cup glass to chipped glass dreaming of mecca 30 years passing
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children gone empty space of departed wife pregnant lady mountain pushes up revealing belly on another bright clear Malim Nowhere day as my jeep rolls slowly on grandmother screams
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latah as I drive into the kampong past blind sisters selling kuih shed full of cats spilling onto the dirt track chasing golden necked proud cockerels into sun dried torch ginger always on puffing black smoke
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back down that memory lane carbide chimney sold brick by red brick dragon fruit weirdness fluffy bunny gardens chinese school disgorging pupils bicycles cars everywhere noisy on a hot Malim Nawar morning Aliza chases Mohammad
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Mohammad chases paper khalwat goons chase both slipping sliding greased palms fingers too fat to pull wallets drop cash Sun shifts shade to shade bananas ripe papayas ripe coconuts fall split
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pandan water cools thirst I drink from my old jeep cabin drive one handedly slowly ever on into the kampong on a hot Malim Nawar morning.
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the end
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Thank you for reading this prose poem. I hope that you enjoyed it. Dusun will be publishing more short works in the coming months Martin Bradley
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dusun quarterly e-journal of Asian Arts and Culture
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