( i.)
we eat with our h a n d s
ba na na leaf plate sp a nn ing
a table or two
how many h ands can we count covers
tropical banana (.) savannah of g lo s s y c h l o r o ph y l l,
ele phant -ic l eaves
lai d d own under:ric e
pan- cit bi- hon
ini haw
lechon
think: ( red skin , crackling WHOLEroasted pig
“pinch the belly where lemon grass
& gar lic
Are.” )
in the city, wethink of: the word bu- kid
and smell(:) lush plant scent from
machete / i- t ak
cutting down banana hearts not exactly
bananas yet
( purple red )
still in parenthesis
br. eaK it open
see seedlings like dotted i s
o r
revert time t o let it grow: saba
type of banana cultivar
boil it whole inside its peel t i l l charred brown and black
warm on hand
let
p(e)tals of brown black peel splay o u t
like: its canopy
as wings droop down to reveal
sweet. gelatinous. taste.
( ii.)
there are grains of rice on
the sides of my fingers
i lick it or kiss the skin to leave none wasted
it is salty from oils
sauces
mothers always say:
“every grain is a drop of sweat off a farmer’s head”
suffered abundance
in tropical humidity
my cousin’s head sweats as he slurps warm soupmy mother cleans h-
er fish bones like a cat’s tonguecolonized country taught to eat with
u ten sils( although
spoonfuls of rice
remain more popular than forkfuls )
; hands understand
H O M E is in the texture of rice
spread out until
the. warm. steam r is es
which fingers then touch their tips for in
reconciling motion
—soft grains compact
in mouth.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones