Studies for a street scene (macan tutul bok!)

Straws like bullets / in his back pocket / cold water / in his hand / like a grenade—

Plastic cups of water in his hands / cold / like hand grenades—

For a thousand rupiahs
you can get
a fully grown man
to run around traffic
of heavy steel
like a child
playing tags
short straws
packed like bullets
in his back pocket
plastic cups of water
Cold
in both hands
like hand grenades
he hands over to you
reaching out[cross that]
across the heated air
above the dull knife edge
of your passenger seat's window—
of the window
you roll down
from the safety
of your passenger seat—
of your modded
passenger seat—

a hand like an elephant's trunk
resting on
the edge of a car's tinted window
like a shark fin
rolled down just enough
to let
the hand roll out—
it roll out—
to flick dead ash
on the asphalt
and rest
on the sun-warmed roof
of the car to wait—
and wait—
for the next drag—