Short of breath

(for Muni)

In fragile fingers

Never have I
beyond mountains serene
climbed those steep stones
in frozen seas.
Nor held I in fragile fingers
sand, soil and all that lingers
Of me these grains
ambition amorous
great quakes and gales
cannot relieve.

 

T.P. Wilkinson, Dr. rer. pol. writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is author of Unbecoming American: A War Memoir and also Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..