Sumatra Poems

a shipmaster in love

a shipmaster in love

The boat that left at sunset didn't have red sails
but fading sunlight painted grey sail red
even though the vessel was not going to China 
not this year or any other year, the Oriental 
wanted to know why he lost two wives 
in, the short span of seven years
His third wife sees the boat disappear from 
the safety of her verandah she doesn't like 
a vessel moves and stays at home
She is secure, and pregnant, a feat his other wives 
managed, hence that's why he sold them to
a bordello in Tashkent
the boat is a brigantine made of Canadian wood
the timber has the habit of groaning when 
sails have no wind and days appear longer than
when a storm is brewing
The captain has a shopping list for his third wife 
gave him, about buying figs in Sumatra and 
coconuts in Congo, the captain smiles, his wife
 she has never seen a map

The Only Star For Me

The Only Star For Me

It’s my corner coffee shop, Starbucks 
The cheer starts here with hot coffee
I’ll get yours, it’s nothing, awe shucks
A home away from home, my family 
A blended Frappuccino, at lunch to boast
Make it a Sumatra Arabica venti
Fresh whole coffee beans dark roast
Patrons on Laptops, their cup’s never empty
Macha Latte hot tea, sweet and uplifting

Named after Starbuck, the first mate in Moby Dick
Originally intended on naming the coffeehouse Pequod
after Ahab’s whaleship, the name would not stick
At the brand’s core is the Starbucks siren, odd 
The bare-breasted, two-tailed mermaid but
was intended to be as seductive as their coffees 
Based on an old sixteenth-century Norse woodcut
The Seattle’s Pike Place logo evolved in the seventies
They unveiled a cleaner image of the mermaid
She was updated, cropped, and repositioned,
so that only above the navel is displayed

Sumatra Tiger

What a gorgeous tiger I said to Sparky when he showed me his pix.
She was a beauty for sure, he said. I had choices of tigers I was seeing.
Being so close to them, were you feeling you were in a bit of a fix?
No, he told me. I used a long lens to capture this gorgeous being. 

Which jungle were you visiting? I queried, truly wanting to know.
I was in Sumatra, a large island in Indonesia, pretty from shore to shore.
I asked if this tiger was energetic, tired, fast, young or slow.
I did not get that close he told me, because she is an avid carnivore.

Banana Tree

Banana trees

Most of the jungles of Sumatra are uprooted
to plant banana trees the orangutans have been made homeless.
They try to sit in the banana trees, but it is too brittle for the animals
 besides, they don´t care for this type of fruit, which gives them the runs.
It reminds me of Lisbon the Portuguese are proud of.
 Moneyed people are coming from abroad to settle in the city, 
a wonderful place to live.
The poor cannot afford the high rent when flats are modernized 
to suit newcomers.
 The unfortunates are pushed out to find a shack, if they are lucky 
or failing that, live in tents; 
many tents, in parks and sideroads while waiting to be housed.
There are many pretty banana trees in Lisbon, but they are expensive.
It has always been like this, the poor and the uncommunicative
must take the brunt when a town goes upmarket.

Clowns

Do you recall the song "Send In The Clowns" by Sinatra?

I reckon folks even heard it who reside in faraway Sumatra.

Long gone is famed Emmett Kelly who portrayed "Weary Willie",

And the great Red Skelton whose hilarious skits were so silly!

Alas, their likes will never be seen again in spacious circus tents,

Since movies and television have supplanted such events.

But hold on!  There is still a horde of clowns who entertain us!

The Congressional Clowns (many of whom are superfluous)!

Flat-Headed Cats

Flat-Headed Cats are listed as, endangered
and are found in, Sumatra, Borneo and on the Malayan Peninsula
They inhabit, lowland forests, swampy areas, lakes and streams
and they exhibit more wetland skills than their cousin, the Fishing Cat  

They are one of four cats, that cannot retract their claws
and their threats are, depletion of fish stocks due to human over fishing
rapid loss of habitat, because encroaching humans are developing
oil palm plantations, logging, poisoning and toxic water pollution

Borneo Pygmy Elephants

Borneo Pygmy Elephants are listed as, endangered
and they were isolated, about 300 thousand years ago
from their cousins, on mainland Asia and Sumatra
and they are known as, the smallest Asian Elephant

They have shrinking forests, with human settlements
and there’s a lot of logging, with a conveyor belt running
There are palm oil plantations, creating a lot of sediment
and a lot of agriculture, destroying their natural environment

Sumatran Orangutans

Sumatran Orangutans are listed as, critically endangered
They are found in, in the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh
with only nine populations, that number about two hundred and fifty
but because of human populations, their numbers are not pretty

Orangutans live their lives, exclusively living among the trees
and females hardly go to ground, with males are seen there rarely
Orangutans like to hangout and eat, in the breeze of the fruit trees
with adult females cradling young, and adult males being solitary

Orangutans play a vital role, for the health of their natural forests
as they eat and dispose seeds, when they have to go to the dunny
 If Orangutans become extinct, the natural forests will not look sunny
as we would lose many tree species, because of, the greed of money

Sumatran Rhinos

Sumatran Rhinos are listed as, critically endangered
and are now classified as, “functionally extinct”
as they are only seen in zoos, for their genes to be preserved
but the death of two subspecies, makes them so distinct

Sumatran Rhinos used to live, on Borneo and Sumatra islands
and are the smallest, of the living Asian Rhinos
These Rhinos have two horns, very unique to these hinterlands
and their long hair relates them to, the ancient Woolly Rhino

Poaching of Rhino horns, are sold on the black market
for medicine and ornaments, that makes them a big target 
and the biggest markets, are in China and Vietnam
as the greed of money, is a worldwide human scam

Sumatran Tigers

Sumatran Tigers are listed as, critically endangered
They are found in Asia, only on the island of Sumatra
and are the smallest sub-species, existing well before Cleopatra
with their colorful amenities, and their traditional accessories

These Tigers live with, Elephants, Rhinos and Orangutans
and their habitat is, forests grasslands and wetlands
Tigers are well known, as the “King of the Jungle”
and we should not be the ones, to make them humble

Their habitat destruction, force tigers into human corridors
but this will only predict, a desperate battle of human conflict
Sumatran Tigers have killed, livestock and the human invaders
but this is their home, that is not for, the human need of greed 

Accelerating deforestation development, and rampant poaching
is destroying their evolution, and now their historic life is pending
This human timber harvesting and defragmenting, is out of control
destroying the ecological environment, and taking down their soul

He Sang Like Sinatra

A New Jersey-ite, his name Hobo Ken
For singing ballads, he had quite a yen
  He would sing like Sinatra
  From Vegas to Sumatra
On rails he rode with fellow jobless men




            September 03, 2020
 Completely Your Choice (3) Poetry Contest
            Sponsor: Brian Strand

Blackened Silhouettes Fill the Skies

Blackened silhouettes fill the skies
Take heed to coming wind and rain.
Listen to the swirling gull cries
No chance of weighing anchor now
My ship’s the schooner Laurie Jane
With a Neptune sprite at the bow.
We’re for Sumatra come first chance
A fine load of tea ours to gain 
Waiting to sail is a dog’s dance
Now such heinous blackened skies rain.
6-15-18

Drowsy Notes

Waiting time
Loiters long;
Tentative tact

~~~~~~~~~


Unfinished
Block booking;
Time seeps away

~~~~~~~~~


Hazy complaints
Ashy sky blurring;
Smoky air blots

~~~~~~~~~


Drowsy notes
Morning haze floods;
Cranky moods

~~~~~~~~~


Burning smog
Hazy indiscretions;
Madness percolates

~~~~~~~~~


Sad and sorry
Same old story;
Sooty somehow

~~~~~~~~~


Cash and carry
Wind-blown haze;
Free Gift galore

~~~~~~~~~


Smog chokes
Haze-filled lungs;
People suffering

~~~~~~~~~


Sumatra burns
Hazy concessions;
Groggy tensions

~~~~~~~~~


Finger-pointing:
Tai-Chi blunders;
Culprits make money!

~~~~~~~~~


Plunder
Blunder;
Thunder

~~~~~~~~~




Leon Enriquez
24 October 2015
Singapore

Haze

Blur smog floods mist
Ashy breeze gist


Haze floats and swirls
Choked airy world


Cough on demand
Cause claims refund


Ease greets disease
Smog finds new lease


Face masks and all
For big and small


Peat fires from far
Fling smog and scars


Sumatra smog
Bring fiery fog


Passive the will
To burn and till


Who is to blame?
Give us the names!


Yes talk is cheap
Smog grips ash sleep


Haze most crazy
Haunts the loony


In deep embrace
Smog face to face


Dread fills the air
Choke sure affairs




Leon Enriquez
24 October 2015
Singapore

Limerick Crochetes: Our Great Uhr-Father From Africa

Limerick cochetés: Our great uhr-Father from Africa

Our great uhr-Father from Africa
Hallowed be Thy fame in high Valhalla
	The Asian walk-about
	Down backbone coccyx snout
Who didst Thou mate in Peninsula Malaya

To produce orangutan Malaysia
Did our great uhr-cousin Gorilla
	Chimpanzee when in doubt
	Precede Thy walk-about
Swinging from tree to tree to Australia

To judge by great life in Southeast Asia
Smoke-filled lungs from HAZE in Sumatra
	Death penalty for tout
	With drugs- Hell for khalwat*
Is there doubt who preceded whom from Africa

•	khalwat:  (a Muslim – all Malays - religious law) 
According to which, no Malay may marry a non-Muslim nor be found in close proximity giving rise to suspicion of promiscuousness, law enforceable by religious courts whose officials are empowered to spy on offenders and report their activities to the relevant authorities


© T. Wignesan – Paris,  2015

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