aroundthecosmos poem #3
(jamaicanpoem #2)
the sun dangling from the schoolroom’s ridgepole
is a styrofoam fisherman’s float
big and yellow as a grapefruit
it sits at the hub of a hurricane-
ravaged umbrella
the crazy outspread spokes each
skewering a planet
mercury a small red christmas ornament
farther out jupiter a fat papier-mâché breadfruit
saturn’s tired paper rings droop like the brim
of a lady’s summer hat
while the dozen paper strips of a comet’s tail
hang languidly
the walls do not reach the roof in this hot clime
a bananaquit has flown in
built a woven twig globe its hole on the side
laid three speckled eggs within
she sits atop the nest atop the sun
and sings her bananaquit song
while the solar system turns gently beneath her
and the students at their desks
do their history and geography and math
© Jacqueline Jackson 2005
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2005.
