Border Towns

Border Towns
 
I know the border towns
Where black and white make love
Babies are fragrant as freesia
And hound dogs hunt only the moon
 
I know the border towns
Where lesbian and gay retreat
Mirrors love a body naked
And Siamese tell their dreams
 
I know the border towns
Where Jew and Arab pray
Holiness is the food of peace
And fish whirl a dervish of joy
 
I know the border towns
Where Catholic and Protestant exchange
Wedding vows and catechism
And doves nestle in fronds of palm
 
I know the border towns
Where indigenous and colonialist stand still
Arrows quiver a healing
And coyote play chess with kings
 
I know the border towns
Where East and West do meet
God is a lotus in blossom
And Heaven is rice in a bowl
 
I know the border towns
Where North and South beat drums,
Guns are a graveyard’s booty
And Monarch butterflies hum.
 
In these towns
Silence and strife share a park bench
And breath is a song of praise.
 
Copyright – Dolores Brandon