Promised

by Lynn Farmer

A poem to Cuba

Searching for haven in the stormy night,
I may well perish as I make my way;
But always to you, Fair Cuba, holding tight,
Fast by the rudder, I await the day.
--José Jacinto Milanés

When I am far away from you,
I can still imagine the crashing azure into white
over the waiting edge of the Malecón and the taste 
of savory black beans and rice forever filling my bowl.
I can imagine the gracious palms that rise and spread 
their falling fronds, that punctuate the horizon 
and mark the street before my feet.

When I am on the other side of the water,
I can imagine all your splashes of color — the far 
blue mountains, drawing some softness along the line;
the bougainvillea, hibiscus, orchid, and rose
amid the green of life and grey of concrete;
the yellow building, the lime auto,
the white star on the red, white, and blue flag.

When I am behind the door that closes so 
to my hand’s reach for yours,
this sky goes on past forever in my mind,
pure on its own, crowded with white,
dark with wonder, orange with ending.
And I can imagine the fine feathers
of the calling birds, the bright dust of the butterfly.

When I can’t find you in the crowd of faces
and long to sit with you awhile, I can still imagine 
the sweet coffee of friendship, the generous love.

I have promised with my life
and with my presence among you
to remember as well as to imagine,
to act, as well as to remember.

And so, since even when you are out of sight,
you are always so close to me at heart,
I can even imagine a day
when we will be free from fear,
free from need, free from separation.

May I dare to make real
all that my imagination dreams.

______________________________________________

Many thanks to Lynn Farmer, poet, photographer, friend, for allowing me to share her poem.

Lynn Farmer is the winner of the 2011 Georgia Poetry Society Charles Dickson Chapbook Contest. Her first chapbook, The Rare, Persistent Light, was published in 2012. Her poetry has appeared in various publications, including The Chattahoochee Review, Lullwater Review, and the collection Immortalles: Poems of Life and Death from New Southern Poets. Among her many awards are the Byron Herbert Reece International Award, the Chattahoochee Valley Writers’ Prize, the Founders’ Award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, and the James E. Warren Jr. Prize from the Academy of American Poets.

As a member of the Cuba Mission Group of Oakhurst Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia, Lynn has made many trips to Cuba. Oakhurst is dually aligned with American Baptist Churches USA and the Alliance of Baptists. Since 2003, the Cuba group has made yearly trips to visit Oakhurst’s sister churches in Alamar, and later Perico and Santa Clara.