Island of Strangers

Island of Strangers 

By Roger Robinson

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.