Rosemary Palmeira
Transplanted
Deep in my dumbness
a watertight capsule
transplanted
out of time, out of place
torn from roots and role
unconnected.
Lying weightless, suspended in space
without enough weight to dent the earth
memories only disturb the equilibrium
communication becomes as hard as a swimmer
struggling to reach the far bank, waterlogged
weighed down with sleep and distance
paper-thin, thinner than cloud, than ice
an air bubble, a waft of wind
without shape or speech or substance
a floating tent, unpegged, ethereal.
OH GOD MAKE ME REAL!
with sweat and blood!
with vision and act!
with passion and pain!
Like the baby’s crying in the night
wrenching me from the drug of sleep;
like the sore throat throbbing
like the wrestling night of love
like the morning child jumping on me
like the wild waving of trees.
Is it only this then
that summons us awake
to welcome strong daylight -
The discomfort of illness
the hunger of stomach and flesh
the importuning of children?
Page(s) 136
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