This poem is taken from PN Review 259, Volume 47 Number 5, May - June 2021.
Kinderszenen
Kinderszenen: Scenes from Childhood
Christmas Market
24 December 2020
And if it could just be Christmas Eve again,
when I was small; and the evening air was all
redolent, with the pepper reek of clappers,
mingling with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove,
scent of currants and raisins in rum for a year.
And me and my siblings and friends, dressed up
in our brand new Christmas dan-dan, all excited
to galang down town to visit Christmas market.
And stars would stream out from sticks, like lit-up
sceptres held aloft, and everyone had on a crown
of crepe paper, printed with some festive slogan
like: Mary’s Boy Child is born; O What a La La Pon
the Beebop! Just Kiss Me quick! As we make merry
in Christmas Market, where our finest craftsmen
...
24 December 2020
And if it could just be Christmas Eve again,
when I was small; and the evening air was all
redolent, with the pepper reek of clappers,
mingling with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove,
scent of currants and raisins in rum for a year.
And me and my siblings and friends, dressed up
in our brand new Christmas dan-dan, all excited
to galang down town to visit Christmas market.
And stars would stream out from sticks, like lit-up
sceptres held aloft, and everyone had on a crown
of crepe paper, printed with some festive slogan
like: Mary’s Boy Child is born; O What a La La Pon
the Beebop! Just Kiss Me quick! As we make merry
in Christmas Market, where our finest craftsmen
...
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