Three children drift ashore on Mytilene
like dolphins paralysed by dynamite,
but these are human forms - daughters
of a troubled land surrendered to the sea.
Where east meets west, the shores of the Aegean
can mean sanctuary, glimmering through this ordeal -
the dark voyage, a winter gale - but amulets that kept
them safe on trails through hostile wilderness
are powerless against the frenzied waves.
Old women recall other times when corpses
surfaced in the nets, or washed ashore from Aivali
and Smyrna; they watch the wheel revolve again:
three little sisters found too late, where strangers
close the coffins, dig the graves.
Harvest of the Sea
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2003
Свидетельство о публикации №103032200413
Свидетельство о публикации №103032200413
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