nostos and not

by Daphne Marlatt

     Note: These poems are from a series called “flights” written
     about not only my childhood in Penang (& the feeling of
     being both here in Vancouver, & there) but also my dad’s
     early years there in the 30s based on letters he wrote home to
     his mother in England.

what this body enters thick heat monsoon jetties’ harbour
mud smell deep in

                            mee and nasi fragrant concept–free
it’s coconut oil and garlic–rich and salted ikan bilis

where no one pisses now in not–so open drains exhaust
where city market’s reno stalls the heart by stainless steel
counter sinks awaiting fewer fish no durian no mangosteen
south african apple talk instead by stalls the garland boys
thread saffron mum heads swift rose petal discard
                                                                              still

the becha maker’s skill adept in shrine–lit interior steady
focus fits a silvery state–of–art new wheel to cart it’s his
own place

                          and out of ? me? whose memory’s sudden
jolt knows George Town Dispensary still and mother / Mem
slender in white cotton fresh from the Hill ordering
worm pills or calamine then off to Whiteaways or maybe
Pritchard’s ice cream table curlicues from tiered tray this
child in tow allowed to choose vanilla slice not kueh mueh
or ais kacang not then not there

this porous body’s deep Vancouver–grown  yet here
familial history steeps imperial sites Bank Chamber’s
long arcade no war amp beggars squatting in its shade by
Tuan’s office door no syce no King of Heaven shrines to
grace Edwardian pillars now British culture’s gone and yet
it’s advertised: George Town heritage restored