PO E MS
VENUS KHOURY-GHATA
A
star
A sta r
is a flame's inventi o n
A spa rk 's whim
th e o pinio n o f a lamp lo nging fo r eterni ty
o ne o f God 's sec ret ma neuve rs revea led by th e d icti o na ri es
We explained
We expl a in ed our des pa ir
to
th e th o rn bu sh a nd th e juniper
ou r o nl y cousin s in a fo reign la nguage
we wept on the sho ulder o f th e pomegra na te tree whi ch bl ed eve ry
month on o ur doorstep
We as ked th e fo rest to g ra nt us a udi ence
and we prov ided the tes timo ny o f two bl ackbird s w ho wa tched us
writing " goa t " fo rwa rd s a nd backwa rcl s
we conquerecl the a lph a bet
O ur cobbler spo ke Sa nskrit
the priest and the broo k spo ke La tin
We were sco lded fo r o ur igno ra nce o f o rnitho logy
yet we knew the name o f each star and its p rec ise pun ctua ti o n o n the
page of th e sky.
