Coast Market

Audre Lorde

Hibiscus bright
the sun is rising over Christiansted.

Gouts of plastic litter
along the delicate shoreline
building shadows lengthen
but the sand is going away
sea corals hauled to build a pier
for cruiseships
a racetrack instead of a Junior High School
mud flows from the schoolyard fountains
our seniors fail or emigrate.

At sunset the ginger weeps
for what is growing
and the precious coin
we pay
tor making
change.

Copyright © Audre Lorde