"THE RED GATE"--#SOL Number 1

3/1/16 'THE RED GATE" --#sol16

by Natasha Labaze




https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARed_Hibiscus_from_Kerala.jpg


Today, I did not
pay Haiti a visit.
It came
lurking on my
mind.

The scorching benevolent
Sun
had not stroked
my head
since we tucked
my mother's
worn body
in Haiti's
dusty
bosom.

Haiti's visit
so warm
so clear
so unexpected
Even the computer screen
vanished before my eyes.

The image
of the red sliding gate
under a cooling sun
of our once family
home
just stood there in
the forefront of my mind.

The home my mom
could visit only
when her arthritis-
riddled body
fled the 40 hour-
week
to go home only
for a bit to
rest
and rekindle
her bones
to rekindle
the laughter

Just like that
with no airfare
I landed facing the
red gate
Moist dusty hill
leading down to the
sliding red gate
Dust wet with
the damp smell
and taste of impending
rain

The red gate
The deep green bush
with shy peeking red hibiscus
flowers
the red petals
the yellow pistils
intimately leaning
forward
Reminding New York-
born me that
I have arrived
on the soil
of my mother's
bones turned dust

The red sliding gate
remains shut
at the crossroads of
streets whose names I
no longer remember