They Are Shrinking

the sea
and placing the sun

at the pale edge
of dust

but they dream

of summers
on pastoral plains

and short winters

and the promise
of salt on the land
that is left—

the crude promise of salt

to be swept
into piles
and sent to the city

in search of
vacations

and one-bedroomed flats

and other
investment
possibilities.

page 87

And they dream

of trouble
with crows—
but crows

they can handle—

and skin disease
anaemia
and outbreaks of plague

and the demise
of small birds
and boats stranded
on plains

and life forms
without homes
on unstable horizons—
but horizons

they can handle—

and they believe

casual injustice
and savage diagnosis
can be kept

to a minimum.