Empty treasure chests dumped from departed ships
And jettisoned slaves washed
Into an arc from Jamaica to Guiana.
Islands aborted from the belly of the sea
Forever unborn in rock and swamp.
Other fragments rot in the sun
Like cane chewed and spat
From coolie mouth.
Haiti is a crab with broken claw.
Cuba droops in fear at the foot of America.
Blue is deep and everywhere of European eye,
Green of seamen's hope and gangrene,
Yellow of the palm of dead Amerindian
Unyielding gold.