splayboy
By kevin martens wong zhi qiang
originally published saturday, 15 april 2023
on tigri sa chang
poesia intralinggu / translanguage poem
(skribeh na kristang & inggres sremendu
written in codeswitching kristang & english)
Koitadu | Content warning
Please first read about my writing in the Skribadorang or Writing section on the Igleza page here before reading the piece below so you have advance warning about the rather spicy things that I often like to write about, and why I choose to write about them, especially in terms of subverting unhealthy stereotypes about gay people, Kristang people, Creole people, Indigenous people, masculinity, neurodivergence, the body, healthy forms of attraction and sexuality, and using my writing to process the severe individual, collective and inter-generational trauma and abuse I have faced across my life.
Kifoi Deus ja dah kung nus sapiensu
kabelu di ketiak?
Prumiru, yo ngkak
sabeh; luckily, the researchers say
it is there to reduce friction
when we move our arms.
A lubricant
for when we have our fun.
Thank goodness.
Na otru mundu, yo lo lembrah ki eli pra nus sa mang
kora olotu desah tokah kung sintih
ungua parti di korpu impoku mas pertu di chang.
So lubricate me, kabalu ketiak:
lambeh bong-bong yo sa mar.
Pegah bos sa boka na yo sa angkru:
lebah kung yo bai lonzi di bista
di pintalumezi
di kadangua kamera
I like the pattern when it osciliates and whorls
and finds purchase on every taste bud of my tongue.
It's blood, sweat, dead skin, and tears;
you say you can't understand what that has to do with my mouth.
You don't understand why it makes you a man
when the taste of your sweat is just that level of proud.
So pride me on all of it.
Let me smell
of colour, and resolve, and the courage to show and tell.
After all,
The golden ratio must surely revolve around
something in nature,
something at least as profound.