2/23/2014

James Berry's A New Woman

A New Woman


I see her arouse the wind
with her coos and whistling


She comes out of deep woods
a hill stream follows her to the sea


She says hello to flat sea
it rolls high waves to her feet


She beckons clouds away
from dazzle of the sun


She sits out under a tree and strange
animals come and sit around her


Scorpions cover her naked body
protecting her from sunstroke


She talks to stones and they dance
with vultures with doves


I see her whistle winds up
and all trees wave her goodbye.


Copyright James Berry 1987
From Our Yard: Jamaican Poetry Since Independence. Edited by Pamela Mordecai. Institute of Jamaica Publications.

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