this colonial tongue (a beginning)
September 22, 2008
this colonial tongue
lashes
searching for the flavor
that pungent
that sweet
that peppered
that home
the ingredients in english
don’t measure up
don’t mix right
to create the taste
i remember
knocking coconuts off trees
starfruit sprinkled with salt
cayenne riding on breath
the way we smell like our mother
homeland in a pot
bay leaf in a pan
frying memory
to preserve her
© 2008 tahminah zaman
Posted by tahminah zaman, m.f.a.
Filed in ancestry, bangladesh, bengali poetry, cosmology/mythology, death, east indian diaspora, east indies, erotic poetry, experimental, feminism, gender, hip hop poetry, in progress, india, life, love poetry, pakistan, poetry, political truths, politics, psychology, religion/faith, self-love, short poems, south asian diaspora, south asian politics, south asian women ·Tags: bay, cayenne, coconut, colonial, english, flavor, frying, home, homeland, ingredients, lashes, leaf, measure, memory, mix, mother, pan, pot, preserve, pungent, remember, salt, smell, starfruit, sweet, taste, tongue
