A NIGHT IN THE VILLAGE - for Sonia

In 1982 Sonia and I went to Greece.  We spent a few days in her hometown.  I wrote this poem then, which I dedicated to her and is included in my collection Mapmaker Revisited.  I also dedicated the book to her.  She always found it funny and used to say: "Someday people will think we were lovers or something."  We were best friends.  I want to share it here again:

A NIGHT IN THE VILLAGE

                                                  for Sonia

salima said "the night is blue" but

here nights are black stars hang

from the sky like pearls around

an african woman's neck

when the moon's full we sit on

the balcony weaving dreams with words:

                        embroidery of cotton and silk

                        beads with opals, rubies for passion

the darkness blends our souls:

                        we become one with the moon

trees and old houses draw shadows

on the mountainside   crickets keep

us awake wounding a silence

as thick as plum

when the moon is new we count

the stars   try to guess their names  you

know the big dipper   i see it now too

the air is a knife's edge cutting through

                        our skins

                        our words

and we become many like the stars

one night in the village we became

all the women who've ever shared their lives

from the beginning of time