Order
Jesus did not ride that monstrous wave,
not Yahweh, Jah, Allah, none of the major
Gods or the minor ones, not even the godless
strode that bugger which sliced our lives
in two: the past where we danced ballroom
while the children played carom, and mangos
stained our lapels, and today, hobbling,
scavenging in ash heaps, how easy
the arithmetic, day and night, two by two.
Bring on the mind workers.
Let a thousand doctors bloom.
I lived right here on the x, my name
is blue: sea green blue blue green
I do not speak in tongues. I am not
disordered, a babbler. I did not lose
anybody close to me, just 30,000
fellow island bees, not to worry, machan,
old fellow, I will subscribe tomorrow,
the order of every day, skip and jump rope,
whistle, talk to aid workers, even swim.
Copyright Credit: Indran Amirthanayagam, "Order" from The Splintered Face: Tsunami Poems. Copyright © 2008 by Indran Amirthanayagam. Reprinted by permission of Hanging Loose Press.
Source: The Splintered Face: Tsunami Poems (Hanging Loose Press, 2008)