-
A Dark Balance
- Manoa
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 14, Number 2, 2002-2003
- p. 182
- 10.1353/man.2003.0036
- Article
- Additional Information
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Manoa 14.2 (2002-2003) 182
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A Dark Balance
Naomi Long
[Figures]
[Magdalena]
for Mary
when we were born
tiger and snake
crouched in our bloodferal, amber-eyed
others never knew
from our disguise,
the disobedienceof a boneyard silence
osprey carcasses
reptilian spines
mammoth tusksfather's ruby trenches
where his mind left himnight after night
a rack of splintered faces
yankee, gookand mother's southern moon
waning
under the roofwe bid our time—
the snowy ascents,
the mountain rangesthe long distance sight
to ten years aheadwhen we'd
turn our skins inside out
and forsake each othertiger to the forest
snake to the sea
...