Page 20 - A Qualified Acceptance of Sorrow

Layer by Layer
…we are gradually, layer by layer, unpeeling the intertwined and entangled impacts of poverty in trade
~ Harriet Lamb, CEO of Fairtrade International

Imagine the acrid smell, the smoky taste of green
sugarcane grass burning; feel the heat,
notice the snakes slipping away ...

See the machetes glint in the noonday sun,
hear the dissonant metallic clatter,
the sea-wave rustle of grasses …

Consider how the meagre profits melt away
as bundled cane hardens on the slow cart,
on the rough road leading to the sugar mill.

Imagine deeply green windmill sails,
their weedy disarray set on stalks, sheathed
in fraying brownish paper, the purple heart
hanging downward, the lime-green hands rising
in supplication from the ovarian flowers ...

Notice the pungent odour rising from the earth,
feel the humid air, notice the tiny markers,
see the photo of the child, now dead,
dibromochloropropane deformations
traced in the small body.

Imagine narrow paper lanterns
changing hue beneath the tropical sun ...
the green, yellow, red, purplish-brown pods
harvested; mindful of the plants' precious stems.

Consider the small hands
wielding machetes,
breaking thick pods open,
scooping, setting out pulp and seeds to sweat ...

Imagine what it is to miss
a swing, lose a finger, a hand ...
No time for school, less time for play,
having never enjoyed a chocolate bar.