c March 2001
I go out of the house to get the bus by the beach
I have afternoon class now
I walk past the wooden kampung housing
complete with coconut palm and chicken
This time of the afternoon
there are few of anything about, it is quiet
I go on about three or four minutes until I get to
Jalan Pantai, where I wait for the minibus to take me
in front, the open sea, going to meet the horizon
the horizon meeting the sky, clear and high
I cross Jalan Pantai and wait, trying to get
a little protection of the tree group from the sun
this time of day, of course, it’s hot, must be around 32 Celsius
it is on most days of the year, barring the monsoon
when there might be a three or four degree respite
but it doesn’t appear to be that hot
the breeze is continual, taking the edge off the bite
I look around me; the road is straight here
I can see the bus coming from some distance away
it might appear opposite, up the road that I have just come
I am in the suburbia of the beach
the outer reaches of the sand, the ankle-height rough grass
You wonder how it can carry on here
in inhospitable albeit attractive terrain
I think that they, like me
enjoy the introspection of the place
the bouquet of the air, the touch of the breeze
maybe too, the clarity of being here
I note in acute examination, the tall, thin trunk
rough to the touch
with narrow spreading branches
ready to whip the unwary, brittle twig
three centimetre needle leaf, soft yet strong
green with flecks of yellow, alternating
like rugby socks. The new 1 cm segments are soft on the arm
touching me like a woman’s hair. I put my nose near
then in gentle, unobjectionable way
massage them to get the aroma
a rich combination of earth, juice, sea air
I could put in a bottle, be in a house with it
Apart from the odd car
there is just the sea on the beach
the noise of the wind in the tree
a couple of teachers pull up
ask if I want a lift. I reply that I am waiting
that is true.
I have no recollection of what or who I taught
although I do have a record of my time there
I can think with some pleasure
though of one afternoon by a beach tree
