Showing posts with label poem thebodyofmyisla rickkearns rickkearns-morales puertorico boriken taino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poem thebodyofmyisla rickkearns rickkearns-morales puertorico boriken taino. Show all posts

Friday, January 23, 2009

'The Body of My Isla'

Inside the orchid eucalyptus
bamboo heart of my Boriken
roams the ghost of Tio Nando
touching Titi Carmen
on the shoulder before
she cries herself to sleep
every night.

Thundering out of the dark eyes
of the enchanted island
is the coqui orkestra
5 million translucent tree frogs
singing as they must
aiming their love at the
murderous F-18s dropping
bombs and dripping poison
on Vieques, residential bombing site.

Roiling in the ocean blood
of the home of
my Taino antepasados
y los que viven aun
are the hopes and dreams of
fruit and yautia vendors
selling their wares
from the backs of dented
pickup trucks.

This is the body
of my island
this is the blood
of my love
Amen
Amen.

Rick Kearns-Morales

Poem reprinted with permission from the author Rick Kearns-Morales. See related entry posted today in this blog for more information about the author.