POEM
My Daughter Called You Susi Susanti
Email to the cat
Your squinting eyes remind me of my teacher, Jimmy Edwards,
padding at the front, lulling us with the curriculum
monologuing from the textbook with a rhythm
of purrs. I listened perched on the seat of a wooden desk
cold as a pew. I would have loved those histories,
as bedtime stories — that I read to my first born beneath the stars.
Come examination, I replay histories like audio cassettes
spinning them out with a pencil — I’m meticulous not to
pinch or twist the tape magnetically storing the stories
of life — I spool for two hours at the cost to me of only
an aching hand. I am lucky that dates are seldom required.
I envy you, sitting like an Egyptian, choosing when to be petted.
I love history, other people’s, forgetting my own,
the narratives of violence and tragedy — trauma, conflict
the fights for power, the dominance of great men.
Like you I try to observe, bristling my hair when stroked.
I’ve been domesticated from the wild — seeking to avoid
the triggers, I squint to smile through the face that I wear.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susi_Susanti
Lucia Francisca “Susi” Susanti Haditono is an Indonesian retired badminton player. Relatively small of stature, she combined quick and graceful movement with elegant shot-making technique and is regarded by many as one of the greatest women’s singles players of all time. She is the first Indonesian Olympic gold medallist.
This poem began as a writing exercise for an online poetry workshop based on them of writing a letter with a twist and was inspired by the way the cat seems to look at me with closed eyes.
© Pablo St. Paul
English writer in Indonesia
