Marigolds
For the Arrival of the 1860 Indentured Labourers 163 years ago
“On the seashore of endless worlds …”
We gather at the water’s edge
the milky sky above
beholds the human tableau
as the wind blows sand into our faces
and the incessant waves
waft
in
waft
out …
Ancient sea histories
wash across the shore
mingling
with
histories of the land
billows of sugarcane
heaving
breaking
crashing
in motion
We are gathered today
to offer marigolds to the Indian Ocean
the Seas that churned our ancestors to this land …
Scattered in the gales of
continents
In the currents of
colonies …
Our oblations of gold
buffeted by the waves
our histories
crash
collide
merge
as seagulls fly
We are of
earth
and sky
and air
and fire
our homage of gold
flotsam
and jetsam
under the heavens
ceaselessly
rising
and
falling
in the sacred dance
of
remembrance
*****