"Bones," a poem by Marilyn Buck
iClacking keys announce your presence
a stalker that needs no silence
your eyes sweep the hall
searching out encountersmy bones tell me who you are
your eyes sight in on me
you bark my name
an obscenity in your mouth
my eyes meet yours
you recoil ...
too latemy bones unearth your history
iiyou press against the corner
the hunter in his blind
listening
your tongue cuts loose
Buck!
You speak Spanish, Buck!
an accusation
I know what you're saying!
Ana Luz laughs: ¿Es ilegal hablar de la
comida?Ah, you speak Spanish, Mr. Kane.
one woman wonders if you are Latino
your black hair, your moustache ...
your eyes flash
an M-16 in shadowed forests
No! No! No!
I'm an American!
But I've been there
Where, Mr. Kane?compañeros bones murmur
from beneath tropical forest floors
si, estaba aquí
yes, he was here
iiiyou hunker in the darkened cell
rifling meager possessions
I stop in the door
you start
Get out! No! Halt!
Are those books yours?
There's a map ...
I stand still
is this a trap?
... the island where I was
Tiger Island, la isla de la tigrebones clatter in my chest
you said you were in traffic control
San Salvador? Honduras?
an island off El Salvador!
Hunter Kane steps from shadows
trophy in his grin
yes, but not there
advisor in the countryside
you know ...my bones snap
the sound of .223s slap flesh
"jungle" boots dance in bloodyes, I know
death stench settles on my bones
when you stride prison hallsbut you do not know
my bones are not mine alone
we are wherever you arenot always prisoners
Winter 1997 © marilyn buck
Previous publication in BLU Magazine, v. 2, n. 7, 2000; Prosodia X, 2001,
Rescue the Word, and the Prison Activist Resource Center
[access:< http://www.prisonactivist.org/archive/pps+pows/marilynbuck/index.html >]
Marilyn Buck is a poet, writer and US political prisoner. She was awarded the PEN American Prison Writing Poetry prize, 2001, and an honourable mention the same year for an essay. A Gerald and Maas request to video her reading her poems for the Red Cloth Series (chainlessway) 2009, was denied by the warden. "Bones" is posted with permission of Marilyn Buck. - jbg