Introducing a new series of poems by Julian Matthews. Julian is a writer and Pushcart-nominated poet published in The American Journal of Poetry, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Borderless Journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Dream Catcher Magazine, Live Encounters Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and The New Verse News, among others. He is a mixed-race minority from Malaysia and lived in Ipoh for seven years. Currently based in Petaling Jaya, he is a media trainer and consultant for senior management of multinationals on Effective Media Relations, Social Media and Crisis Communications. He was formerly a journalist with The Star and Nikkei Business Publications Inc
Link: https://linktr.ee/julianmatthews
By Julian Matthews
I know you prefer your fish curry a little aged.
You relish the bits at the bottom of the pot soaked in spices,
heated twice before, which you purposely saved enough of,
in the fridge, just to get another stab at,
on the third day.
It’s as if all the aroma and goodness,
all the care, sacrifice and sweat that your mother put into her curries,
her decades bent over the stove, the years of making it over
and over again until she knew instinctively
how much tamarind juice and coconut milk,
turmeric and fenugreek, coriander and cumin,
salt and pepper to chuck in – yes, ‘chuck in’,
there was no ‘tender, gentle sprinkling’ – into the wok
to make it work, were all infused into
that last dollop of what you call
comfort food.
You can even see her now, licking the salt off
her manjal-stained palm, calloused fingers waving spatula
like a wand, the wrist action of a badminton player
as you break bread,
swiping the remaining curry off the insides
and the bottom of the pot like a brass polisher buffing
up a museum exhibit, the same pot you inherited,
and refuse to get rid off, despite its broken handle,
misshapen base, signs of rust at its edges,
because, within the warm womb of this vessel,
even three-day-old meen-kulambu leftovers
on salivating tongue, still taste of love.
Translations:
Manjal = turmeric
Meen kulambu = fish curry
First published in Men Matters Online Journal, Malaysia.
