there, the air is thicker
it hangs full, like the ladies
all the sadness lived in the
capsules of trapped air in
woollen jumpers left behind
men with their toothless
smiles and shining skin
coax laughter from a steel drum
the market boasts a rainbow
of sarongs, papayas, star fruits
offered in jangling song
it was a medicine.
the coral blooms in the reef
are teeth in a dog's mouth,
guarding.