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This poems reflect thoughts about the nature of seduction, recruiting, and the need for labor, and how those needs converge with the fantasies, dreams, and longings of young men and women ... this is explored in more detail in the podcast.
Suva, Fiji
Rust and freshly spilled blood
exactly the same smell
perhaps we never realized
it until now
is it the presence of
oxygenated iron?
or simple outrage,
despair,
or longing?
Forgive the sky---
the blue echo of water, tide, and time
Old sweat, new chemical acceleration
sapphire blue glitters the ring on my finger
I bask in the sun, rain, and a belief
in you, me,
together
yet I taste oblivion on my
my lips
my tongue
in my tendons
the agony of chanting in spite of desire
the pain of self-abnegation in spite of
your sweet voice peeling layers away from my heart
I will remember tonight:
palms rustling, a quiet Fijian singing songs to tourists
but memory takes place when we least want or expect it
we master the art of disassociation
or, better, the ancient Toltec art of hallucination
the Pacific demands honor
today the sun pulses like my heart
glitter if we believe
I still believe in the power of you –
of oxygenated iron
blood
when I simply look to you
my fires rip away your masks
hand-carved, oxygenated
blood or rust, I will never give up
you, or my heart glittering sapphire
searching