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Tapa Talk

Serie Barford

I'm a shadow-catcher
I walk and fly in worlds
between worlds

but you were born in
the light of a bright moon
when the doors of heaven
were open to the songs of stars

your lips are trochus shells
fully parted in sleep

your eyes are nets
that draw me in
to your arms

your Leo heart
is a starfish freshly
plucked from heaven

your familiar body
the midrib of a coconut leaf
adorned with pandanus blooms

your laughter
a banana pod
burst open

and right now
dawn crawls over you
like a centipede

at last I understand

you're the translation
of an ancient text

and the tapa on the wall
is the gallery of motifs
I found in your sleeping form

the tapa could be you
lying next to me
breathing into the first light

and you darl
could be the tapa
hanging on the wall