Standing in a Truck from Soufrière

 
Standing in a truck from Soufrière to Castries,
Black Jesus pumping brakes, and Danny the Rat
smiling yellow smile from one yellow eye
to the other. Bananas, bush, sea shacks---
the great unfinished churches of St.Lucia
telling us, this is as far as Europe got.
The halfway mark. Church half painted, heart half-full
of England, the Lord's prayer, E.C. and U.S.
Danny the Rat asks me if I like his island.
'Mwe fet ici,' I say, and the wind
pulls back our lips laughing, Danny the Rat
bent over, clutching rail, this white man's so funny,
and Black Jesus at the wheel
driving faster than accidents over half-hearted roads,
coconuts bleeding in the ditch.
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