The Daily Poem

MY DOMINICA

My California fades to nil,

While thronging greens close every space.

The chloroform of chlorophyll

With sweet anesthetizing grace,

Reduces me to semi-sleep,

Consumes my shallows with its deep.

Perpetually the wind and I

Converse in languages unknown.

The white-capped sea, the cloud-washed sky,

Like mothers cradle me un-grown,

Un-made the knowledge of my years,

My lips with milk, my eyes with tears.

What sacred incense paints the air

From burning heaps of stream debris?

The forest offers up its prayer

In Celtic knots and fleur-de-lis,

In fractal twists of spinning swim

And every spiraled synonym.

My ears unfold with taken shapes

From music never heard before.

The lullabies of waving drapes

My window sill and open door,

Where sunlit amplitudes of sound

Reverberate this barefoot ground.

I’m far from home but where for sure

Is home when loving arms are here?

The time goes by like something pure

Parading past all clean and clear.

I close my eyes and then I see

My Dominica holding me.

D. Edgar Lamp

The Daily Poem - 370

Daffodils Stanza

Marigot, Dominica

Lat: 15.54, Long: -61.27

JOURNAL: Rashawna’s House

Mimi and Rashawna went into Roseau today to buy groceries. I stayed home to wash clothes. Using the primitive washing machine was fun. Process: 1] put clothes in, 2] turn faucet on and fill washing tub with cold water until clothes are covered, 3] add soap & softener, 4] turn timer on and the mechanism at the bottom spins water to the right, then the left, then right, then left, until finished, 5] turn another dial to drain washing tub, 6] turn faucet again to fill with water, 7] timer again to rinse, 8] drain, 9) fill 10) rinse, 11) drain, 12) put half the clothes into spinner and dial in spinner time, 13) spin, 14) remove and place other half in spinner, 15) spin, 16). Then repeat steps 1 – 16 for second load. Then hang the clothes on the line under the porch with clothes pins. Wait all day for the sun and wind to dry them. As sun is setting take in the clothes and fold. Then Wash Day is complete. After I hung out the clothes I walked down to the store and bought a few things for lunch: one can of black beans, one can of kernel corn, a small chunk of cheddar cheese, three packets of ramen noodles all for 19 EC dollars, which comes to about $7.50 US. With matches, I lit two burners on the gas stove. Placed two packets of ramen noodles in a pot. Opened the cans of beans and corn into a frying pan and placed the chunk of cheese in the middle. Let it all cook until noodles were done and cheese was hot and partially melted. Served in a bowl with ramen noodles on the bottom with corn and beans on the noodles and the gooey cheese on top. I ate two bowls of my ramen noodle extravaganza and put the rest in the fridge. After lunch I lay down for a nap. When I woke up the sun was setting. The electricity was off, so I lit a couple of candles for light. Mimi called to say they were just getting a ride with some guys in a pickup truck with the groceries and would be back in about an hour and a half. No lights, no TV, just a candle burning beside my laptop as I write. The wind is blowing as it has been all day. I can hear neighborly voices shouting back and forth from house to house, and a distant dog barking.

~ The Daily Poet