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  • Prometheus in Santa Barbara
  • David Oliveira (bio)

Almost dawn. Above the landing, whereI am alone to measure languid surf and swellsand draw enough mist into my lungsto fuel a small ambition for morning,

is the exact place the thin crescent moonhas tried all night to reach. It has cometo witness the slow waking of this daywhich I have watched for some time.

It is left to me to gatherthe world's corners into this one place:moon, stars, earth, ocean, sky,and soon, the sun, where night will open

to the curve of day's certain ascent.That I will hurt today is sure.I know this when I wake, and I carrythe knowing to night's mending sleep.

How I will hurt others is less clear,what I do so often far from what I intend. [End Page 69] Lights go off in houses all along the shoreas morning overwhelms their small shine.

By chance, only I am hereto worry the sun above what matters,red and silent, precisely where I want—what I do to turn the dark world light.

David Oliveira

David Oliveira, a second generation Portuguese American, was born and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley. He is the author of a book of poems, A Little Travel Story (Harbor Mountain P), and a chapbook, In the Presence of Snakes (Brandenburg P). He is a professor of English at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.

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