Jahara A. Solaiman

A Tupperware container flew
Several time zones in one day.
Escaped many an airport baggage scanner,
To my table made its way.

Bestowed by visiting kin,
Conjured by an aunt
As soon as the sun was in.
What more could I, far from home, want?

Misty eyes and emotions later,
Banana leaf parcels
Under the raised cover.
Longed-for delights weave their spells.

In my kitchen well-lit,
Emerald-colored lipet yield
Their bounty of kagikit.
Mounds of kuning, made with rice from Babu’s field.
Randang concocted from the softest meat,
Pyarun a bakas and a dollop of palapa to make it complete.

In seconds the fragrance of this largesse,
Had me dream of familiar shores, no less.
Of wood fires in simple homes and earthen floors,
And people going about their pastoral chores.
Kith and kin, even those I don’t fully know,
Inviting you, “bugur tano!”

And then it finally hits me: I have been away for years.
Will all this precious food understand my tears?