Poetry 2023 Longlist, John Detroit

Stops in a Winged Bracket

(After visiting Borno)


Like a camel of solace I arrive in this city 

           to find that space is the beginning of everything here...

There are more grasses than people 

          and a person found is a treasure sought,

At nights grasses come alive 

        and a moving grass is not the wind in question,

To be here is to always observe the shadow
      and absence requires flight..

In this city a person found is a treasure sought,
           and space, is the beginning of everything...