Tia Ballantine

A COMPREHENSIVE MAP OF PARADISE

An alabaster angel with one hand flat against its cheek
sits near a 19th century black carved coconut, balanced

on a woven basket from Vietnam. Rain comes through
the window and beads on the angel's head. Across

the room, a woman carved of ebony carries one hip
forward and an empty water jar on her head. Her breasts

are rubbed from black to tan, her back bared to four
wingspread birds on a gold stained lacquer screen. One

a swallow, another a mocking bird, and two wet
with silence. Like fingers, the fringe of the Mexican

shawl drawn tight across the piano bench blows
out on wind. Someone digs a hole beneath

the banyan tree with a shovel
that sounds like teeth.