
RUNNER UP: Ballad of an Indonesian Jackal
The language of “Ballad of an Indonesian Jackal” is riotous and rich. Its “colonial jackal” refrain propels us “tender long” into “a cylindrical codex/crawling with maggots,” “burlap bodies … snapped whip crack,” and “mother pearl tea.” It is a delicious mixture of tradition and experiment.
—Liz Howard
Hear
the beats of a colonial jackal,
they pawn tanks
banter with brass
brokers of project papers.
Here
my seat, next to a colonial jackal,
estranged pawn panting tender long
groping a keris exhumated
shaped like mountain rages,
bound by a cylindrical codex
crawling with maggots.
Tender
jaws of a colonial jackal,
molars groan, gagged muzzle
steel slicked with spittle,
when the gong sways on reverb.
Hours
past of a colonial jackal,
burlap bodies laying attention
snapped whip crack,
fingers coffee-stained cloves
chasing unmet targets, bite
back the hand who fed us.
Sing
the ballad of colonized jackals,
We decree,
enough
Pond tang
pant ting
we
band thing
two lang
you
tomb bang
sheer nah
merry day kaw
mother pearl tea wee