Ride

Grey liquid crystal
Burnish ochre skin,
Dispatching sympathy and sin
Begging shade and shelter,
Grasp steadying waist
Under blue-piercing needle
Floods of verdant green.

I fear less.
I fearless.
I am fearless.

In October 2023, a friend and I embarked on a month-long road trip along the East Coast of Malaysia. With him gamely driving whenever we rented a scooter, I rode pillion a number of times, with some journeys being more pleasant than others thanks to the weather.

This piece refers to rain falling so heavily, it has an almost polishing effect on our tanned skin, giving us many damp inches of reasons to seek sympathy. With no respite to be found, the rain continues to fall so hard that it seems as though our sins could be washed away. Conditions grow to be so painful that we abandon our wordless requests for shelter, and actively look for refuge from the weather, which has – by this point, at least – become a metaphor for purification.

On bumpy roads, I hold on to him, an attempt to stabilise myself as we pass a seemingly infinite landscape of tall trees, a scene sometimes overwhelming simply because we just do not know where to look. Natural beauty exists everywhere.

But in the same way the rain is painful, in the same way floods might be devastating, there is a purifying quality to them and the truth is, being out in nature is purifying (at least, for me and him).

At the end of the day, spending time with him like this taught me to be braver, through separation, combination then addition.

East Coast, Jean on the Move, outdoors, Pantai Timur, travel Poetry