5
Or am I geography? A look? A groove
or notch in the Wood? A wisp
of kemenyan? Rama and Sita?
Gendang gamelan? A spice?
That I am a civilization
as it was thought before, a race,
or a religion? Adab rites
in relation to the trees?
Custom of silver or silk?
No written records, no ruins
—People of the Wood—
No nation diadem, no interface
Along the fossilized tracks
through the karstic hills
where what vanishing happened
Facing the forest rhinoceros, the tiger
Sea routes open, bestirring winds
down from the Archipelago of Samui
toward the Crater and Hydra high in the sky
Somewhere between Kelantan and Songkhla
around Saiburi, the two ports of Suvarnabhumi
to the double gates, towers, and pavilions
Fields of rice on the alluvial plains
Remnants of levees, earthwork ramparts, outline
of moats
Some coins: Arabic, Chinese, Sassanid silver
Setback raised bricks
torus thick, found
linga and nandi
Or am I aromatic woods? A dance? Kuda Kepang? Silat
step? Nadaswaram and thavil? A gong? Am I sanctuary?
called awan larat: wandering cloud spirals
called gunungan: stupa mountain peak
called mata hati: inner eye that guides
the soul, more than ritual or tradition, being
alive to sweat, to difficulty, more than breath
Wayang, shadow and image
play, speech unpeeled
imagination
7
Flowers and Leaves in the Wood
Bunga and Daun in the Kayu
Kala hidden in the Wood
Punca rahsia source
of seed and learning
Semangat in the Wood
spirit of life, indwelling life-force,
mineral soul
as a lover’s drawn to her beloved
as rock’s long dream, water’s
sleep, night
bloom of daun bakawali
What vitality binds a universe?
Hayseed in the Wood
Been Sprout in the Wood
Pucuk paku fernshoot, eye-
lash fiddlehead curl
weeds and buds, creepers and wind-
blown tendrils, claws of aloe
telepuk water plant
Makara in the Wood:
elephant
trunk, goat
horns, boar
tusks, heron
neck, crocodile
body, fish
tail animal spirit
Vahana for Varuna and Ganga
on perahu boat and door panel
on window lintel and gate handle
on hilt to lotus leaf wings
Flames in the grain, marks
ingrained through the long art
Nik Rashiddin, master woodcarver:
We must think of Langkasuka as the current of a spirit,
a landscape…a constant reference, a marker, a presence
. . .a pledge to the ancestors, a promise to nature
A translation
A nameless name
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