Mocha Skin Garden / Kulit moka tanah sekebun by Jack Malik
A poem where the author reconnects with a heritage that is almost gone—a love letter for both Ipoh and Kelantan.
The piece, originally in Malay, was published in Selangorkini on 28 October 2021.
From the author:
The “mocha skin” alludes to one of my lineages as told by my mother (Yemen was one of them and there’s a port in Yemen called “Mukha/Mokha”). Ipoh is famous for its White Coffee. Cerang Tegayong Garden is a garden in Kelantan. The piece is about heritage and belonging. Both my parents are Kelantanese (East Coast of Western Malaysia) but I was born and raised in Ipoh (West Coast of Western Malaysia). It deals with me tracing my roots; reconnecting my heritage that is almost gone; rediscovering what “home” means and writing a love letter for both Ipoh and Kelantan.
English translation:
Mocha Skin Garden
Original Malay:
Kulit moka tanah sekebun
keceroian titih kulit moka yang belum dapat pengesahan; rampai sari kerabu asalmula & anekaraya usulpangkal: akulah sakar sukar— sejarah syukur & sabar, masih lagi belajar nama-nama seakaran angin brehi yang memaniskan bahasa pulang. antara pekan dipalu harum tengkujuh; bandar diketuhari wangi bahang utara berbau macam putih kopi— di sinilah tempat lidah pelajari maksud sebenar baca. dengan nama kepulangan. dengan nama tuhanmu. dengan nama serendah tanah sekebun. dengan nama sebatang pokok: aku kembali. aku kembali. aku kembali. kembali & kembali.
Jack Malik is a poet from Ipoh, Perak MY. He is part of an artist collective called Projek Rabak. Jack has two poetry collections in Malay titled Wannabe Sasau (2019) and Sajakjakja(c)k (2020). Jack is also one of the recipients of the Selangor State Literary Prize (known as Hadiah Sastera Selangor) in 2020 for poetry.
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