streets puddled with molasses and rum

a snowy landscape coated with powder

yet timber was burning

 

a baby in an iron cradle

a big man on his back in a deep baker’s oven

shrivelled flesh drawn away by heat

 

haunting odours return in dreams

of foundry, steam and sulphur

through little holes in the wet brown sand

 

fallen walls of cobblestone

pink plaster and tiles

bombarded and overturned

 

green landscape ended abruptly

slope and cliff denuded of trees

a sharp line of coconut palms

 

half green, half brown.