In Ecuador the yellow line
marking earth's heart
is painted on pavement.
At the end of the line
a spiral staircase within a tower
leads to displays of the photo ID cards
of Amazonian tribesmen
whose eyes show the truth of their belief
that the camera has stolen their souls
while noisy machines brought by foreign
petroleum companies hurry to steal
the rain forest's deep
hidden oil.
From the top of the tower
the view is one of active volcanos
and two soldiers patrolling.
One is a woman, the other a man.
Each time they cross the line that divides
a secretive world
they share a kiss
at zero degrees latitude.
BIO: Margarita Engle is a botanist and the Cuban-American
author of The Poet Slave of Cuba (forthcoming from Henry
Holt), Skywriting (Bantam), and Singing to Cuba
(Arte Publico Press). Short works appear in journals such as
Atlanta Review, California Quarterly, Caribbean Writer, Hawai'i
Pacific Review, and a previous issue of Moondance.
Awards include a Cintas Fellowship, a San Diego Book Award, and most
recently, a 2005 Willow Review Poetry Award. Margarita lives in central
California, where she enjoys helping her husband with his volunteer work
for a wilderness search-and-rescue dog training program. EMAIL:
Englefam@Earthlink.net
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by Margarita Engle