So since I am leaving the Cineforum at the end of this month, Reg wants me to do a poetry/spoken word night at the house. It is going to be in two weeks and hopefully involve a lot of revelry. I am planning on making some chapbooks of my poetry, and these will be given out for free to all those who come, since it costs $10 anyway. I am also going to have a shitload of semi-exotic Sri Lankan fruit for free consumption, to set the mood. Hope to see you there.
The chewing of betel-nut is a very popular activity in most of the Asian continent. It is a stimulant, producing effects similar to tobacco or coffee, and like those things it makes an inedible effect on the chewer. Men with red gums and teeth are a common sight in Sri Lanka, as well as the ubiquitous ‘betel-hawk’, wherein the user must spit out the accumulated blood-red saliva every so often. It is not a very pleasant habit. But particularly amongst the lower-classes, it is a necessary coping mechanism with the hard labor and infinitesimal wages.
:
Lunch Break
betel-nut wrap leaf red teeth
he has
never seen so many
spittoons,
silver polished shine
blinds drawn against mosquitoes
fat and blooded from
so many feasts,
fruit protected from flies and sun
but the men don’t care,
swat each other playfully
spit and drink from canteens
before going back
to work.
