Arnott, Joanne

she is riding

1.  
2. she is riding
3.  
4. down through the suburban grey
5. streets dreamed by developers and
6. implemented for traffic floes
7.  
8. comes riding the turquoise green Grandmother
9. riding her mighty Sow
10. onto the battlefield
11.  
12. down along the highway of decay she rides
13. between the crack houses and on to piggy palace
14.  
15. where the spirits of the women are lifted
16. out of the horror, out of the muck, like
17. troubled teeth and bone fragments
18. their spirits gather and rise, and rise
19.  
20. all of our dead sisters lifted by those winged women
21. well-versed in the protocols of the battlefields
22. recognizing the existence of the battlefields, here
23.  
24. as along the highway of tears
25.  
26.  
27.  
28. shoulders back open arms open chested
29.  
30. the turquoise green grandmother breathes
31. along with each one of us still travelling
32. our inner city streets
33.  
35. our turns on the quiet highways
36. our love affairs gone wrong
37. our villages overrun
38.  
39.  
40.  
41. shoulders back
42. open arms
43. open chested
44.  
45. letting flow the sounds of the inside
46. the sounds of our voices calling out songs of sorrow
47. the sounds of our drums rising through time and through sky
48. the sounds of our warm bodies travelling swift
49. through the families
50. and through the forests
51.  
52.  
53.  
54. shoulders back
55. open arms
56. open chested
57.  
58.  
59.  
60. we accompany our sisters and brothers to the threshold
61. we hold them until they are fled, and then
62. we hold them more
63.  
64. we accompany our mothers and our fathers
65. we accompany our children, our friends, and o
66. the many strangers, the star gazers
67.  
68. we hold our dying persons long dwell
69. inside memory
70.  
71. we lay each one to rest
72. slowly
73.  
74.  
75.  
76. shoulders back
77. open arms
78. open chested
79.  
80. tears coursing from the inside
81. across the outside and wetting
82. our multihued skins
83.  
84.  
85.  
86. the touch of a warm palm in passing
87. through hair on a child’s head gently
88.  
89. the touch of lover to beloved
90. anywhere, at any time
91.  
92. the touch of Grandmother’s warm palm
93. on the cheek of her adult offspring
94.  
95. or along the stiff hair on the Sow’s back
96. she is riding