Poem for Linsey Ashley

by Cheryl Boyce Taylor
©1999, 2000 used by permission of the author

Under the brown twigs
of the ferny tamarind tree
where my grandaunt's
navel string is buried
goats come to pay homage
i watch them bring their young
who eat scraps and nibble
at the ghost of her green vines
they bring rumors of children
stillborn lifeless
babies with holes in their hearts
and umbilical cords roped around their necks
my father comes too
body slightly bent cockspur in hand

In this quiet light
another heart is breaking
across the tendril of noonday
clouds swallow night stars
rain casts a bluish glow
on the fresh paved road
and in the secret center of earth
driven under wings
the black beaks of birds