STATE LINES California Poetry

The pantoum, originally a Malaysian form known for its woven pattern of repeating lines, creates an opportunity for Mia Ayumi Malhotra to convey the experience of living between two cultures. The form is well suited for memory loops such as the one described here. To the poem’s speaker, in transit between Japan and

Early Pantoum: SFO International Airport, 1992

I buried my face in my hands and left it there. When my body rose to pass through the customs gate, life fell back to normal proportions, and I left. When nobody rose to follow us through, I sighed, because life felt normal. Proportional: mom, dad, brother. Our luggage followed us through. I lost sight of the relatives waving from the gate at mom, dad, brother, our luggage. I felt strangely unburdened

is from “Isako Isako” © 2018 by Mia Ayumi Malhotra. The poem appears with the permission of Alice James Books. All rights reserved. America, neither “home” feels familiar. The pantoum also offers Malhotra the opportunity to play with the meaning of words. Note how her use of “customs,” in the poem’s third line, denotes the bureaucratic process of entering a new country, whereas her second use of the word, in the last stanza, signifies a set of cultural customs that carry, for her at least, fraught meaning.

by the relatives waving. From the gate, I turned for a final glance, felt unburdened at last. The strangeness of American supermarkets. Turning, I took a final glance at that unfamiliar world of American supermarkets.

I was headed home, though that too felt unfamiliar.

Soon I’d take on new customs, headed home, though there too,

I’d have to bury my face.

Mia Ayumi Malhotra is a fourth-generation Japanese American poet and the recipient of fellowships from Kundiman and VONA/Voices Writing Workshop. She lives in San Mateo with her husband and two daughters. David Roderick is the author of the poetry collections “Blue Colonial” and “The Americans.” He is co-founder of Left Margin Lit: A Home for the Literary Arts, in Berkeley.

Sana Javeri Kadri Mia Ayumi Malhotra