Two poems

By Andre Bagoo

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Changeling

I give you my tongue that you may speak
That you may hear I give you my ear
I give you my skin for you to feel
Feet so you may walk

Speak, that I may have a tongue
Hear and I may have ears
Feel that I may grow skin
Write for these legs to be complete

•

The Night Grew Dark Around Us

Let the daughter of that hibiscus say:
“His love has no end.”
Let the mother of the daughter say:
“His love has no end.”
Let the author of the mother say:
“His love has no end.”

Let the love, which is a flower, say:
“His love had no end.”
Let the flower, which is the night, say:
“His love has no end.”

•••

The Caribbean Review of Books, September 2011

Andre Bagoo is a journalist working in Trinidad. He writes for Newsday, and has published poems and book reviews in Boston Review, The Caribbean Writer, and Draconian Switch. His first book of poems, Trick Vessels, will be published in 2012.