5 Haikus
Zimbabwe
We dip our paddles into the wet lips of the Zambezi
It, mouthing our bodies between the brown-dry
animal-rich shores of Zimbabwe
and the starved shores of Zambia
Here in Kariba, water pours deeply
through the scar in the African earth
floating our passion and fear on its' silent belly
It broods
moves sleepily after the thundering battle
at Victoria falls
It moves reluctantly
carrying the blood of elephants and villages
from under Lake Kariba
Our paddles dip into the clearer afterthought of history
The gorge cradling our canoe like the thighs of a woman
We are born from the pounding of water in stone
Creation from destruction
The river, like the afterbirth
gushing out under our form
You came with me
silent, brooding like the river
Out of Africa, into Africa
I threw fresh water on your face
in order to see where the tearstains of your eyes stopped
and the dried saliva of your hunger began
I am alone
Here on the Zambezi amidst the Hippos and the crocodiles
Between the lions and the kudos
I am alone, in ecstasy
The river moves us
Paddles dip in
Sensual, caressing your body
like water, rain pouring down on us
dipping into our sleepless passion
Rain river besides us, in us, on us
paddle dips into your hesitation
elephants trumpet outside
ivory white against the blackness of fear
shadows moving dream-like through night
trunk in trunk across the river
silent, colossal
magnificent, imposing
We move closer, watching, waiting, listening
lions roar, distant
water trembles down our face
the river moves us, closer
under storm, cool night
baboons bark, babble
Hippos laugh at our mortality
snort at our impotence
We reveal ourselves under the pounding of rain
Rain masks our words
masks our faces
each word, a drop of secrecy
You recoil from the nakedness of the African night
hide from the glare of Sobek
African night reflecting in the paleness of your mouth
Paddles dip into blackness
Crocodile teeth marks on our skin
piercing our coolness
our shallow invulnerability
You were alone
leopards leaped over your silence
clawed you through to the red marrow
beneath your indifference
The river moves us, further east
toward Mozambique
toward infinity
I drew you to me
drew pictures on the ceiling of the African night
constellations to view our ever changing dreams
In the moment before the pounding of passion
rain, thunder
I looked up
saw the 2-ton silhouette of a hippopotamus
staring at me
black against gray night
Curious, wondering as I wondered at you
Different life forms
The river joins us
Paddles dip in gray
Your gray, my gray
they join
our forms becoming a part of the earth-brown
breath of Zimbabwe
Copyright 2004 Jeff Raheb
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