Friday, October 18, 2013

THE INTERREGNUM

Dare I Say
How magnificent are your peaks in dusk’s shadow
‘Neath an endless horizon of grey powder, a pregnant interlude
Of anticipation, the promise of a late afternoon shower.

How I heard the musical call of lovebirds, through the window
A symphony of teasing and placating, discernible in the din of silence,
While I, a shadow of concentration, welcomes the distraction.

How grains of red dust, set a swirl by this long, enduring African heat
Came to me while on a morning coffee run; this rabid, elongated cone   
Of a tornado coursed through me, grainy traces of its ravages nesting in my air passages, my hair.

How deeply the cool, Savannah rainy season, in the balmy evening air,
Fills my lungs, a sweet after-taste of earthworms and bluish thunder, 
As I stand below a black canopy of star dust, glowing as far away as the eyes can see.

Dare I Say
How you saved me one evening, with an easy conversation,
During an overnight stay in the outskirts of Lilongwe, like two friends from years past,
Features obscured only by the mosquito net, trading questions about our past, our future.  


Camille Tuason Mata
Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand, © 2013


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