From his unpublished collection, Sketches of an Island Life.

On Mt. Anguilla, 14,000 Feet

On Mt. Anguilla, thoughts abandon body,
legs feel for roots.
Hands are useless.
Eye fail in the space.
What little sense remains
says there must be a better way.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

In a myth of his making
he clears debris, raises a tent.
Summer is one quick step to fall,
A tale undeveloped.
Bamboo grows an inch a day.
Humus roils on the jungle floor.
Luckless drought is again turned down.
Outside of this is the rough, red brick
he once knew as home.

Autumn in the Tropics

Wet heat like a thick moth
covers a lazy moon.
Light falls like curdled milk
on almond and manjack trees.
Such is the music
of this life.

Moving Back

After a week lost in sickness,
the low moon finally growls.
Rabbits shriek across lawns.
In the morning,
his family is gone.
Each room is a winter afternoon
its doors flung open.
He checks his watch
and sees there's little time.

Joseph Lisowski From 1986 to 1996, Joseph Lisowski was Professor of English at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas. He is now teaching at Mercyhurst College North East along the often frigid shores of Lake Erie. His chapbook of poems, Letters to Wang Wei, along with two essays has recently been published in Words on a Wire. His chapbook of poems, After Death's Silence is now available from 2River View. Other work may be seen on line in Niederngasse, Kota Press Journal, Thunder Sandwich, the Hold, The Eclipse, Poet's Canvas, New World Poetry, 2River View, Wired Art for Wired Hearts, The Cortland Review, Serpentine, and other fine mags. He is currently poetry editor of New Works Review.

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