The Plantain-Eaters.(Poem)

 
THE PLANTAIN-EATERS 
 
   Thirty-five centimeter bird, 
   turaco, nestled, in the leaf sheath 
   with green fruit between the seams 
   at the nape of conical, false trunks. 
   The bird of long tail, bird of short 
   wing upon which turacin, 
   and turacoverdin, the red pigment, the green, 
   are found along a pinion. 
   We were once asleep beneath the moon, curved 
   blade of Emiliano Zapata agrarian leader 
   in the moth bed, under mosquito nets. We heard 
   lean chickens in the yard, goats 
   upon the woodpile, and women 
   pounding yams. The plantains are getting blacker 
   in the wood box made for government cheddar, 
   the box where my father puts plantains …