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Two poems from sikfan glaschu

Sean Wai Keung

Two poems from sikfan glaschu, the debut poetry collection by UEA alumnus Sean Wai Keung, published by Verve Press in April 2021

 

lanzhou noodle

 

the thing about places where you can see into the cooking

area / kitchen is that you really can see it all – the amount

of physical effort that every single movement and dish requires

the gravity of a cleaver falling precisely along with the movement

of a hand – the tensing of fingers / eyes when kneading

dough – the steam rising from a pan filled with you-cant-tell

-what – i want to know what strong feelings it evokes in you to watch

your food being made rather than have it appear from a distant corner

could it be a nostalgia for something / a yearning / hunger for conn

ection to another space / time *** meanwhile far away in a kitchen

on the other side of the world a small boy watches with huge

disbelieving eyes as his grandfather quickly slices noodles

out of dough before flicking them up into the biggest pan

the boy will ever see – he knows too that its almost time

 

 

tinto tapas

 

sometimes i have thoughts like i wish

i knew more about spanish food and then i wonder

if thinking like that is culturally insensitive

especially since im always telling people

that chinese food doesnt really exist as a thing

in the same way that british food doesnt really exist

as a thing and maybe thats the same with spanish

food in fact i know it probably is yet somehow

my brain is still stuck in that way of thinking

as if things should always be defined so broadly

like yes ok so british food consists of lots of different

cuisines but at the same time if you say a sunday roast

most people would know you meant a british sunday roast

in the same way that if you said fan most people would know

that you meant chinese fan but anyway all im saying is

ive never eaten spanish food that i havent liked

and im sorry that i dont know more about it

 

 

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