by Paola Caronni

Like totem poles on sacred land,
big yellow umbrellas are secured
on the Mediterranean beach.
They stand in rows
with their extended welcoming ribs,
and flutter in the salty breeze
or mid-year drizzle.

Other umbrellas
tussle in the subtropical summer dampness
of the stifled Fragrant Harbour.
Teargas and pepper spray
lower their proud ferrules.
Beanbag rounds
hit their vulnerable canopies.

Umbrellas once bright yellow
now black or
red,
blood slowly dripping from
a tear—
an open wound that won’t heal
or be sewn together again—
tears
from swollen blinded eyes.

Umbrellas like disfigured totem poles
left stranded with
no land to be anchored to
no restoring rain to embrace
no sun above the horizon
to welcome.

Paola Caronni hails from Italy and has been living in Asia since 1995. She writes poetry and fiction, and she is a freelance translator and tutor of Italian language and the Vice-President of the organisation The Italian Women’s Association, Hong Kong. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Hong Kong and an MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Milan. Paola’s poems have been included in various poetry collections, including Desde Hong Kong: Poets in Conversation with Octavio Paz, Quixotica: Poems East of La Mancha, Mingled Voices (2 and 3), and published in Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, Cha, and New Asian Writing.