If only she wasn't only his Sister
& was older enough to be his mother,
She might stagger his hubris by slapping his
Face – as she often slapped her own – to shock its
Sleepwalking awake + away from fooling
Itself it could keep breathing without heeding:
+That blindly young she had never been allowed
To be, ancient guilt built into her birth, pride
Of personhood pruned of its buds long before
They could begin to dream that they should flower:
You might complain that we’re trying to explain
Our Woeman Catholic South American
Young religious pigeon: no, but we do say
That the pigeon was extraordinary
In her winged gift for entertaining versions
Of herself with their inconvenient curses
Of doubt, wasps ever about to swoop + sting:
(from “Raponani” . a verse novel by Brian Chan, 2023)
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 