Jami Macarty
	The Crane              Barbados 1986 Maybe I am the stone staircase of the Crane Sea The manta ray was not the murky overhang of the cliff    not a remnant wave Did you see that We are already tearing down the stairs Of the many onlookers cantilevered above the beach               You and I are the only ones               Who see the dark span of the water witch Their bicycles everywhere against the coral fan wall               Brown children knock in the ear-shaped waves One at the shore chants old calypso               'Bajan gal doan wash she skin till de rain come down' Where has the manta ray gone We agree to be left behind Will we see its soporific shape again The ray has given us back to ourselves For in the morning the waves re-open our white robes               Island is musics is blue is menagerie is horizon is eye The raw table of your hand               A mango surges my mouth stops the tongue with color               We go with the grain of each other