Michael Edwards

IN THEIR ANCESTORS LAND

 

 

IN THEIR ANCESTORS LAND

 

The cooking smoke

from sizzling skins

sent signals

to the old men

sitting, talking,

and feeling the hunger

 

Brushed by darkness

their outlines

dimmed

as dusk deepened

they rose

summoned by appetite.

 

They returned in file

past the river

where they fished

and there floating

the cast-off detritus

of civilisation.