contentment
how many days in paradise
before
a day’s worth of rain
sounds idyllic?
Tag: Papua New Guinea
jungle gunner
jungle gunner
the people didn’t ask for war
but it came anyway
a sharp steel column
marching on soft green island
while hornbills and Willy wagtails
scattered squawking
war was ready to
mix cement lay guns
and wait
ready to take daughters
bayonet babies
& set things back a century
no, longer: the wounds were
deep, jagged, angry
ripe for infection for generations;
(healing’s so hard
in this tropical heat)
how did it feel
tensed in the narrow-eyed bunker
hoping/not hoping for something to happen
ignoring the soothing voice of the waves
while all day everyday they sighed
home
your home
you’re home
this is your home
how much listening would it take
to know we’re all on one ball?
flat water soothsaying
flat water soothsaying
nearly still silent
opaque navy water changes,
goes sea glass green
suddenly see-through,
shapes flicker below:
fish rock reef past portent future,
the surface flattened to
one great divining well
a wide scrying glass
but wind and wave muffle, muddy
each deep message
that may be bound to me,
formed by my mind or other
I look, though not deliberately,
satisfied with shadow and suggestion
not needing to know what’s next
not wishing to learn the worst
language loom
language loom
alone together so long
we’ve nearly forgotten
how others sound
how to weave an exchange
with another willing soul
until the tones hold more than
simple senseless waves
slowly we remember
to listen and ask until
there’s a tough cupped palm heart
sturdy enough to hold tears
threaded together
one under-over-under dip
of our verbal dance at a time
