John Hicks: “Exotic”

EXOTIC

Across the water, beneath bulbs dangling

over the bins of the wholesale docks,

the rhythmic bidding of the fruit vendors

skips off the darkness to our open window.

In ankle-length sarongs and cotton jackets

against pre-dawn chill, the women buy fruit

for customers who, at first light, will wait

on docks along Thonburi’s canals.  Later,

our cook will bargain with them over the price

of papayas, pineapples or mangos

picked yesterday on upcountry farms.

They like to ask her about us; what we are like:

do we like Thai food and do we like it spicy;

what will she cook for us today; how old we are,

and do we have children?  They speak of us as

Nai and Madam—respectful addresses despite

our youth.  In the land of orchids, spirit houses,

and gold-tipped temple spires, we are exotic.

As I pull the sheet up over my shoulder

and go back to sleep, they load their boats,

arrange purchases on fresh banana leaves

in reed baskets.  They’re waiting for the sun,

waiting for it to reach across the Chao Phraya

to touch the giant spire of Temple of the Dawn.    

It’s then they’ll tuck sarongs around their ankles,

and pushing off from the wholesalers,

they’ll call encouragement to each other

as they glide sampan-smooth into still dark canals,

small drops falling from their paddles.

John Hicks has been published or accepted for publication by I-70 Review, Ekphrastic Review, Glint Literary Journal, Midnight Circus, Panorama, Mojave River Review, and others.

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