After getting off the winding corkscrew road
surrounded by wild packs of zigzagging
Bukit Tinggi jungle trees,
Paji parked and carried on daytime walking through
the French-themed resort with my parents and I
I can still feel the stone sidewalks beneath my sneakers
—we pushed on past the mini castles blended with lighthouses,
Further in, I jumped away from the pink rose flamingo group behind me.
I thought they were plastic, fake but one Johnny Bravo blinked
back at me then another and I moved closer to my mum,
holding her arm tightly
The mud brown geometrical lines spanned the village—
a woman was peeking out from a nap I assumed
from the top shutter windows and then there was the lunch
I never forgot
We didn’t stay overnight at the hotel, but
I dined on this red checkerboard mat inside a restaurant
But a hip-hop hand mime clown interrupted
my fork spiraling meal
He had wild blurple hair and
fire hydrant yellow-buttoned patched up overalls,
his twisting watermelon face reminded me of IT
Pennywise the Dancing one—my mum told me
I could take my picture with him, but
I froze in my chair, shaking my head,
no, no, no, no and I looked away closed my eyes
He left thankfully, but I could never
get that face off my mind till today in my 30s
After that, well all I can say is that my breath was taken
away, I felt like a time traveling ant in the 16th century
I felt like I never wanted to leave
Vevna Forrow (Jazz Marie Kaur) is an experimental visual designer and queer poet originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but resides in Southern Nevada. Work of hers appears in the Lothlorien Journal, diacritics – DVAN, Phantom Kangaroo, Oddball Magazine, boats against the current mag, and Little Old Lady Comedy.