Monsoon

Taking tea with Wan Long in Seremban (haiku chain, with audio)

Photo by Carol Hu on Unsplash

Selamat Siang —
peeling rambutan; sipping
iced tea with my aunt —

grand aunt, really — sun
too high; sticky, smothering
humidity — she

unfurls a vivid
sarong, suggests a mandi
and a nap. I shake

my head, my language
too basic to say more. We
sit. The air’s still — then

clouds roil, sudden
dark; the cacophony of
swallows hushed; blinding

jagged flash slices
the horizon. Thunderous
percussion, downpour

in staccato on
her ochre tiled roof. We
sink into the waves;