SIMPLE COMPLEX SHAPES: I
Take her by the hand,
by the hair,
shut your eyes and lead her
to the sea
for the great ceremony of presentation:
the pinhead
where, if she’s to dance,
she’ll enjoy horizons.
[lineate][/lineate] xox[lineate][/lineate]
These warm trees,
they have intentions.
Make contact with them,
please, be flexible,
wash out your mouth with
dirt. And bark.
[lineate][/lineate] xox[lineate][/lineate]
SIMPLE COMPLEX SHAPES: II
eyes
[lineate][/lineate] call to find out if to call[lineate][/lineate]
lips
[lineate][/lineate] don’t touch[lineate][/lineate]
[lineate][/lineate] upon[lineate][/lineate]
[lineate][/lineate] the touch[lineate][/lineate]
[lineate][/lineate] of throats[lineate][/lineate]
hands
[lineate][/lineate] in hotter climates[lineate][/lineate]
[lineate][/lineate] trees shed leaves[lineate][/lineate]
[lineate][/lineate] caravels and barques[lineate][/lineate]
SIMPLE COMPLEX SHAPES: III
They had words.
There were words between them.
They had words with each other.
How they wrote:
first, without signature;
then initialled;
names that bring strangeness,
that could bring about vows.
How they wrote to each other.
And these words
overwintered,
the words they had with each other;
these words
forced inwards
hyacinthine earstoppers,
makeless,
a pair.
~ Vahni Capildeo
Vahni Capildeo is a Trinidadian writer of poetry and prose. She has worked in academia, at the Oxford English Dictionary, and with Commonwealth Writers, the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation.
Her books include ‘Utter’ (Peepal Tree, 2013) and ‘Measures of Expatriation’ (Carcanet, forthcoming 2016). Current projects include a collaboration with Jeremy Noel-Tod for Steven Fowler’s ‘Camarades’ reading series, and Dante reworkings for Peter Hughes’s Oystercatcher Press.