In Praise of a Shadow

Source of echo

madman of prophecies

buffering nonsense

in absence of anything 

solid as a cloud

flung

from the womb

pale pallid asteroid

belt of nanny goat

conjuror of the ill-spoken

adlibbing in shadow

a race in a curve

as an old woman's palm

billows the blue light

instance of an ant's

legs twitch beneath

the headless Nobody

trickster and soothsayer

burner of Ark

cutter of dub

double-talk lame-walker

translating ship screams

and the long gazes

and the neck cricks

and the hollow face

celestial and earthbound

posing the first question

to God after an eagle

picked your liver

and tell the reply

in the treetops

to hold still

and accept 

fade and descent

into nothing

like a scribbler train

heading into a bright

blind and flat

as the mouth hole

of some strange being

and what you say

at the controls

picking up signals

and feedback

off the metallic horizon

and the purple field

where a girl 

undoes her hair

and warps herself

around a tree

her mother is buried

under the grass

there you once wept

from whence comes

something longer

than a shadow

when a shadow

falls in the desert

and the hills expire

the sea expires too

for you outlived

your mule days

of packed crocus

and blades of sun

ripe on your back

at the river

like a crab catcher

in shortcuts

rancid with obeah

on your skin

for a few shillings

to blast off downtown

praise your tongue

praise your spirit

praise your madness

in praise of fern

in praise of shame-me-lady

in praise of bushel

in praise hanging leaves

in praise of praising

your word mass

your mix match

your jamming of elements

when things get terrible

and times get dread

you're ahead

praise

praise

praise