contact
by Shelia Peters
the knee
whump
makes contact
with the sands of Guanahani
con tac tac tactactactactactactactactac
con
this is maybe for once the right word
the word to describe the shod foot
the riveted sole
touching the sands of San Salvador
confuckingtact
it's a sneaky little word
conwhat
the ...tact
Shit,
we're outa here.
because once those sunburnt Christian
feet touched
land it was
game over
toast
refried
Holy
mackerel!
who could evade the pressure
the creak of leather groaning
under the weight of armour
under the weight of arragon ce
beef-eating salt-encrusted men
All
men have they no women?
feet shod in boots hacked
from the carcasses
of burdened beasts
bearing this our weighty world
that cannot pass un
remarked un
marked
marked
marked
I
mean who wouldn't wanna get out of Spain anyhow?
twisting under the weight of sin and hell and reason
the only light in Spanish nights
the fire of flaming souls
reflecting off twitching
boots as garrottes twist eloquence
into diaspora
death may be no escape
any eager explorer
|
(Christopher) | a new-age scientist looking for a fellow ship |
| (Colon): |
...
a punctuation mark signalling apposition of two equal clauses
hah!
the Italian asshole more like it
ready to tart up his theories
re-do the math
if only they would publish his work
just
one small research grant
Pleeeease...
three caravels
three colon ease
the vikings,
they came
for a little farming
fishing
fun
then left
- hell
-
they preferred
home
but those christians
dead set on Cipango
Cathay
India
eyeing up the merchandise,
willing
to write any business plan
for the
bankers
no gold to speak of
So,
how about a few slaves, Isabella?
oxen pulling Catholic bells
The
marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.
on ponderous wheels
Ah!
Blessed invention!
through the sands of Isabella
contact
withtouch
(Certainly
not with tact)
withtouch
such soft sounds
touch
leaves no mark
Why your honour, I didn't mean any harm, I only touched her there ...
more like contact sports
football maybe
rugby
and then there's sexual contact
They
came in contact with ...
and contracted what
we've got that right too
sex
death
Who's
got the movie rights to this story anyways?
contract? con tract ract wracked wrackedwrackedwracked
con (slap) tract (bif) con (crunch) tact (pow) con (boom) tact
Here,
try this, hear this bang, feel this blade
trust me
trust me trust me
have I
got a deal for you!
any reservations respecting the indians
Isabella's Carib sun glitters
on bright Arawak blood,
surprised hands limp hot tendons twitching
as
far away again as Jerusalem
yet still seven thousand miles from India
the people of Damelahamid are turning from the repletion of salmon
to huckleberries
to their territories
some
move silently through bare-branched aspen
over mountain passes
nodding respectfully to the one-horned goat
others hunt fat marmots whistling in Ganokwa
he steps in the ocean satthick
bloodthick kneels
kisses
the sand
contact
a shudder reverberates through
continents:
a
white feather floats
pauses
in the air
in
the city
the people of Ksan hesitate
look
around
watch
Raven settle
shoving
Weget off the branch
shrug
continue their tasks
drop
hot rocks hissing into thwel lahz
sip
tea
repeat
their admonitions
children
giggle and resume their game
the
tdek bounces out of sight
Noelhz
takes the feather
|