Islands

Those times

the world had islands

People cultivated
languages      on atolls
Conduits stayed
in one
place
past
a       session

Neighbors’
tomatoes graced porches        The butcher saved
his best ribeyes
for people around
the corner         We walked home in the
dark, knowing the       locations
of the roiled tree                                               roots

All life was the
same throughout        We found
difference each day
Our three friends at
the bar evenings       Our eight
cousins in the
house

It was
the same every year        We noticed
difference every day              Rows of grain
sprouting red
and brown and
green     Posters written
by a sure
hand, plastered on
mottled stone

Those times
were patient

Andy Oram
February 6, 2020

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