In Antigua
A poem entitled “In Antigua” by Kerri Webster, inspired by a travel ad in a magazine:
“In Antigua I am famous. I am bathed in jasmine
and pressed with warm stones.”
—Carnival Cruise ad in The New Yorker
In Albuquerque, on the other hand, I am infamous; children
throw stones and the elderly whisper behind their hands.
In Juneau, I am glacial, a cool blue where anyone can bathe
for a price. In Rio I am neither exalted nor defamed; I walk
the streets and nothing makes sense, voices garbled, something
about electricity, something about peonies and cheap wool.
In Prague I am as fabulous as Napoleon and everyone
knows it. They give me a horse and I tell them this horse
will be buried with me, I tell them I will call the horse either
Andromeda or Murphy and all applaud wildly….
Read the rest at the NPR website. The poem is a part of the collection We Do Not Eat Our Hearts Alone. April is the National Poetry Month.
