We walk into walls.
Stumble. Stop.
Talk to ourselves
In rhymes and sighs:
“Who will we meet
on the other side?
Disguised as spiders,
Masked as clowns,
Would they all vanish
when we fall down?
Who will we meet
dead or alive
If we pass over
This wall of lies?”
No guide steps forward.
No star appears.
So we ask questions
That voice our fears:
“Will space ships land
to snatch us away?
Or will we be left
in this desolate place
With ghosts for prayers,
Without God’s grace?
Must we scale walls
of frozen tears
as cold as lost love
for a thousand years?”
As dark descends
We drop asleep
To dream of monkeys
on ladders of lace
climbing toward heaven
through empty space.

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Christmas Day Angels in Christiansted

Patricia Harkins-Pierre

 

1. Death Angels

It’s white Christmas
in Christiansted
as ghosts of past sins
drift down
sunlit streets
like sea island cotton.
Across the blue water
cruise ships
float like tropical icebergs
tethered to concrete docks
in Crown Bay harbor. New stores
with white walls, bright smiles,
blank eyes, mirror each other
through plate glass windows.

2. Messengers of Joy

If you have eyes
see: angels
disguised as white egrets
float like clouds
in the flawless sky –
bright as laughter
their feathers
drift down
through morning light
on Christmas day
in Christiansted harbour.

*****************************************************************************************

Oh Heavy Handed Man

(March 2009, Brewer’s Bay)

Patricia Harkins-Pierre

Oh heavy handed, solitary soul,
As darkness turns to dawn your eyes, aswarm
With flies will greet the rising sun, behold
the restless sea. But see no more. The warm,
Salt wind will still caress your skin. But you
will never speak of how its kiss can steal
Away your breath without remorse. This new,
Bright day is meaningless to you, who feel
No joy. How innocent of guile was that
young girl who haunted every dream; whose tears,
You said you’d wash away like rain. The rats
Could smell your sweat last night, your lonely fear.
Today they’ll feast--on fruit, and flesh and lies.
No child will bear witness. Only the flies.

(‘Oh Heavy Handed Man’ was written in response to an event that occurred on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in March 2009. A man was found hanging from a tree on the campus’s beach at Brewer’s Bay under mysterious circumstances. It turned out he was a suicide – a paedophile who had moved there trying to escape his past. He had been hired to teach at a small local school. However, he had not managed his life well there either – he was broke, divorced and was about to be arrested for once again molesting a child.)