African Healing

Science of the stones and wells
and man
red language of the earth
that my body must learn
Apprenticed to trees
I suffer the radiation of magic
and when I remember
I heal
Uttering
is nostalgia
pained longing for home
-can I reach the source
of meaning?
The old man
in the bush
at the edge
turns death
into hope
I am here in the world
forever seeking water
smelling out hidden springs and wells
and building mounds of rocks
to mark the way
I love
what comes from below
what is under my feet
Everywhere is grief and tears
rage and frustration
It is time to build a boat
and launch it on the river
to the laughing crying sea