Island of Strangers
Island of Strangers
This is an Island of Strangers,
each one
with their own small pile of stones.
They don’t speak to each other.
They don’t need to.
The intention is shared,
unspoken.
The pile is always there.
Each stone
smoothly worn.
Familiar in the hand.
They don’t always throw.
Sometimes they just stand,
watching.
Sometimes silence
is their cruellest signal.
But the stones
are not decorative.
They are ready.
And the Black body,
the one in the centre,
(always in the centre)
must read the air,
must anticipate
who will lift first.
Who will pretend
not to understand
what they’re holding.
On this island,
the strangers do not touch.
But together,
they‘ll take aim.
Roger Robinson
Roger Robinson is an award-winning writer and performer from Trinidad now living in Britain.
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