Dilapidated clapboard shacks
piles of bricks in the sand
scratching at the surface of cohesion
Ingenuity is the notion of building
On a foundation made from loss
Out in these arid expanses
where the Red Sea meets the sand
people dream of progress
made from humility
and the laughter of others
multi-colored dross scatter across the earth
like foreign shrubbery
We converse in codes of motion
Language signaling daily headway
Advice for the long haul.
From Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone by Matthew Shenoda. Copyright © 2009 by Matthew Shenoda. Used by permission of BOA Editions.