Originally posted on Wordsmiths of Kuching on Facebook. The first time many of us in Kuching ever heard of performance poetry / spoken word was in 2006 when the British Council brought a poet named Francesca Beard to Kuching, when gigs with amateur bands were starting to get popular. Somehow or another, I was handed the task of tracking down the local writers and poets, and have them come read
An early version was read at ‘Strong Words’ in December 2013. This one went through some edits. The text for this new version is at the bottom of this post. Performed at Shades of Art X on Aug 2. Text under the cut.
‘Pantun Wajib’ means ‘Compulsory Poem’, in reference to the tradition of concluding speeches with pantun. If you’re unfamiliar with the term or form, a pantun is somewhat like a ruba’i but with an ABAB rhyming scheme. I’ve always wanted to write some when I find an appropriate subject matter, then I realised that there’s plenty of things to make fun off in a typical work day. I decided it would
Performed at ‘Shades of Art, 9th Edition‘ at Bing! Green Heights, Jan 11. Text of poem below the cut.
Performed at the launch of ‘Strong Words’, a typographical exhibition organised by Lov Gallery. A letter to every skinny girl who likes complaining to me about how fat she is: Dear Skinny Girl What the appropriate response from someone twice your size Who would kill to be as thin as you You are the unicorn This rhino aspires to be You weigh 45 kilos soaking wet I haven’t been 45