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Open Poetry #4
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The Greeting
| Open Poetry #4 |
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The Greeting |
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Elizabeth Santos Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269Pennsylvania 
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THE GREETING An unplanned urban village spreads beyond the visual space Ten thousand stilted houses built in total diarray A collage of gray rectangular abodes Suspended high above the mud flats of the bay Empty stilts awaiting there, still settling in the mud For the rightful squatter to build upon some day A vulture perched upon a splintered post With eye in all directions calmly watching for its prey A slowly rising ocean tide below the boarded shacks Lifts discarded waste up from the muddy floor Sewage, trash and little human babies all afloat In the calm and murky waters near the shore Too harsh a vision for the unaccustomed eye Too cruel a sorrow for the young and sheltered heart Of a stranger from another world who enters willingly Into the stark realities of a life so far apart There on a mission to fulfill a certain task She attempts to disregard the ugly heat swelled stench As a hundred curious eyes watch every move and step Wondering the purpose of this young woman's quest She stops and hesitates, ill at ease to walk upon Precarious bridges leading through the crowded maze Uneven planks that sway with every taken step No rail or post to stabilize the way And yet a pregnant woman walks with gentle grace While balancing a heavy weight of water on her head Her muscled neck now thick from many years of toil Sure-footed as she disappears with purpose and with stead Then hearing sounds of children from below The stranger glances down beside the walkway at her feet Several boys having jumped into the murky filth Play in waste filled waters to relieve the tropic heat Loud chattering and shouting voices from the mass Strange sounds and syllables unheard until this day The studied language skills cannot detect a word Of a dialect of poverty on the fringes of the bay Filtered out from all the strange unwanted sounds A familiar word "Americana" spoken soft, but clear Amid the cluttered noise of crowded planks and shacks One single word calls out and warmly beckons to her ear She looks around and spots a little girl of six or seven A half-clad youngster smiling with little arms outreached Who runs and tightly hugs the unsuspecting visitor And speaks the universal language of a kiss upon the cheek So grand a gesture from a small, but worldly child Such a warm and graciuos welcome to this far off place From a six year old completely void of innocence A childhood trait that misery has cruelly stripped away And in that moment an acute awareness comes to grip That within the desperation and squalor of this site Abides a rich and overflowing well of human souls From which to draw and learn the true significance of life Elizabeth Santos |
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| © Copyright 1999 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved | |||
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caroline Senior Member
since 1999-08-16
Posts 1218http://members.xoom.com/belladona123/index.htm |
A practiced eye can find beauty anywhere, and an open heart invites it. I see you have both Elizabeth. Wonderful piece  ------------------ "Tread softly, for I have spread my dreams under your feet"~~William Butler Yeats |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
The true beauty of life lies within us, not around us, which you so exquisitely have pointed out. |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Yes, this is beautiful. Again, well done, Elizabeth. ------------------ Denise |
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hoot_owl_rn Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750Glen Hope, PA USA |
Well written and beautiful |
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