erro shakes her head in Madagascar (another means of cutting) -part 5

Erro was in her thirties
She looked at a map of the world
She thought to hide in Mozambique and Zanzibar
She traveled to Zanzibar,
Running on a line of flight from people who wanted to dissect her body.
She ended up traveling by ship to Madagascar
She left her man behind in London
Never saw him again
She remembered his smile
Nobody would ever see her there she thought
She looked at a map of the world
Very likely to be nice there
So she left the ship at…
Much as Victor Serge escaped to Mexico
And Breton passed through Martinique
A case of books, pens and notebooks
A cane to walk with
A guitar and a bottle of Belvedere
A bag of clothes
An encrypted secret address, messages passed like dragonflies
A troubled memory, so many things forgotten
She remembered his smile
She ended up in a hotel on Tanu
Moved to a fishing village
Rented a floor from the cafe and bar owner
night slept alone, supposing she’d find a new love
She never did
His body forgotten
The pandemic spread, air travel paused
She drank the Belvedere on the dock
So here she stayed in her thirty third year
(though she has no idea how old she is)
One morning in Madagascar, making coffee and tea
For Victor and Agnes, whilst he wiped tables
Agnes was dying of the pandemic
She infected Agnes with her virus
Agnes lived,
She served her tea and coffee
Two non-human adults and a baby in Madagascar
Fishermen said hello
She repaired the solar powered water desalination plant
There is no chance of love with these kind humans
She forgot his smile
A year passed like this, 369 days to be precise
She had had enough of Madagascar
Waved goodbye to fishermen one morning
Hugged Agnes goodbye,And whispered in her shell like ear(Don’t infect too many people)Leaving a bag of money on the bar
With her baby on her hip |
Took a ship that hugged the coast
Waved goodbye to Victor from the deck of the ship
Past the desert sands, wearing a ronins straw hat
Through the Suez canal
The mountain of Gibraltar
And disembarked in Lisbon
Her bags in her room at the Sofitel
Imagining Pessoa and Serge in a bar
Phone being charged for the first time in a year
Messages and notifications pinged for an hour and more
She ordered a drink in the Red Carnation bar
She was six centimetres taller than when she arrived in Madagascar
Her head a hat size larger
The rest of her life would be dominated by the two of her speaking
Her phone rang in Lisbon
She was older
Hello? Yes this is Erro
She arrived back in early autumn
With a case of books, pens and notebooks
A non-human baby called Fern
And a bag of clothes and things for the baby and her
Travelllllling from Lisbon by train across Europe
Do I live in this illiberal phase, like the people on this train…
It was raining, raining, raining.
She went upstairs by lift.
The lift door opened…
She smiled