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
