i.
Lord bless where Cuba and I meet
like river and sea
I pray we merge deep
.
.
ii.
bright red tomatoes
full of sunshine
to swallow like wine
.
.
iii.
unable to burn down, burn up
all you’d imagined you could in Cuba
Castro biting out big chunks
each turn you make
each step you take
.
.
iv.
outside Cuba, in Habana Libre,
where to go, how to get inside Cuba
where I might stretch my pocket
half full of US dollars
have to be able to stretch
what I’ve got
like goat skin for a drum
.
•••
•••
Obediah Michael Smith has published twelve books of poems, a short novel and a cassette recording of his poems. He has published widely in journals, and his work has begun to be translated into Spanish and included in anthologies and journals in South America, Mexico and Spain.
tongues of the ocean 