ST. JOHN, USVI

Hillsides burn in the eyes
of the baggage handler at Cruz Bay
as slaves swim to freedom
in the dark channels where a Black man
is running for President
while the ferry from the Westin
fills with the faces of his African ancestors
and heads away from this island
where I am the invasive species
perching on the hard red rocks
thrust from the depths of earths's magma
in the collision of two tectonic plates
fifty million years ago.

Blue tangs, parrot fish, octopus, eagle ray
barracuda, shark and sea turtles
all swim among the many corals
brain, fire, flower, elkhorn, pillar and deadman's fingers
Lizard fish, damselfish, grunts, grouper, trumpet fish, eels
and bar jacks,
I could make a longer list
doctor bird, bananaquit, frigate bird, kite, trembler
whistler, egret, black heron
on and on the names lure me
with their sounds and colors
century plant, sensitive fern, soursop, calabash, lion's tail
flamboyant, allamanda, Izora,
how many songs
in the words my tongue trips on?

This is not my habitat
I tell my wife
I was not made to live
and breathe here
The rocks are too sharp
the air too humid and too hot
my white skin crawls
out of itself
as I seek shelter
from the sun,
darting from the shade
to the water
like an iguana
under the watchful eyes
of the mongoose
goats eat the hillsides
cows stroll the roads
and a sign reads
Donkeys Keep Out.

Whose island is this?
Whose habitat?

Gas costs $4.68 in Coral Bay.