written with a large axe
told by the bordertracers
slaves of their prejudice
chained by hatred
whitewashed memory, creole coolie
color anger pain dockers
open book on nothingness
pages thrown into oblivion
rewritten by the portolan of night
archipelago of sorrow
Chagos of our lost islands
treated with complacency . . .
in what starry night
by what abolished time
on what raft deported?
disemboweled galley
oars, tears, and cries
on a savage sea
by what wilted time
in what abolished night?
words of urgent pain
whipped in the face of the world
the solitude of restraints
in the entrails of departure
songs of doleful repentance
uncaged segas in the depths of the hold
tell the story
tell it again
until the sea reveals its secrets
indian the indian ocean
blood and port, blood import
ballet of allotted lives
the same silenced cries of rebellion
orations without horizons
lives at a bartered price
shameful the shameful ocean
lives exchanged on the cheap