Advice for Haitian Boys
“Something like 40 to 50 percent of the population at Port-au-Prince is kids.”
Go chase the skirts of women down;
tell each she is the crown you have to have
to raise whole kingdoms up from barren ground
but while she sleeps, search out tomorrow’s love.
When your best friend and blood sworn brother dies
throw flowers and a prayer upon his head
then turn around and drink until you’re blind.
There’s no excuse to outsurvive the dead.
And when you lose a city or much vaster,
dance wildly in the absent space it left.
Trust me it only looks like a disaster;
it meant to carry you from this life to the next.
The moon shows 9 faces and then repeats.
Why waste our time with what we saw last week?
