Last night questions

I didn’t like my dinner…Ayam Kemangi
Why did I order yellow curry, anyway?
Why was the plate unsatisfying?
Why did they place the fan behind my table, my chair?
Why was I dining alone?
I didn’t like it from the moment the fan blew
The fly onto my dish.

How many times must I be jerked awake?
They say measurements are difficult from a distance.
Can one count heartbeats from afar?

The small curried bones of ayam kampung
Lacked something.
But what?

Don’t dwell, they say.
But then there is that call to prayer
Here, five times a day.

Spare bones, nestled in batik,
Frail bird, fallen on the sidewalk
Ancient woman…
Ibu, what has happened to you?

But a cab’s approach, instead
Lights up a small child
Featherless, fallen from some nest
Onto the hard and dirty sidewalk
Anak kecil, what will happen to you?

In Morocco I learned a prayer
I might say to those I could not help.
There were bombings that summer, too.
But the prayer, I’ve come to know
Is most certainly for me.

It means you don’t get to look away.
Try staring into the eyes of someone asking
As you pray. 

Don’t dwell, they say.
But then there is that call to prayer…
 
 
 
 

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