By Daria-Ann Martineau
Call me lagahoo, soucouyant. Call me other.
I came ravenous: mongoose consuming
fresh landscapes until I made myself
new species of the Indies.
Christen me how you wish, my muzzle
matted with blood of fresh invertebrates.
I disappear your problems
without thought to consequence.
Call me Obeah. Watch me cut
through cane, chase
sugar-hungry rats. Giggling
at mating season, I grow fat
multiples, litters thick as tropic air.
Don’t you find me beautiful? My soft animal
features, this body streamlined ruthless,
claws that won’t retract. You desire them.
You never ask me what I want. I take
your chickens, your iguana,
you watch me and wonder
when you will be outnumbered.
My offspring stalking your village,
ecosystems uprooted, roosts
swallowed whole.
I am not native. Not domesticated.
I am naturalized, resistant
to snake venoms, your colony’s toxins—
everything you brought me to,
this land. I chew and spit back
reptile and bird bone
prophecy strewn across stones.
--------
Wednesday was fairly quiet and not terrible, since I got to talk to my three best high school friends at lunchtime on Google Meet, though two of them are dealing with serious health problems for senior relatives so they couldn't stay on long. Still, it is really nice just to check in face to face regularly!
Otherwise, got some trivial stuff done, took a walk, watched The 100 as it heads into the endgame (they can keep killing off men and letting the women make decisions), then ABC's special on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire and aftermath. Here's some canal wildlife (including a snake if you're one who avoids photos):
No comments:
Post a Comment