Jaffna and its soil

I find that Jaffna

That is I think that Jaffna

Will create new mines of thinking

Mines of dreams

Mines of aromas

Mines of noises

Mines of effort

Bringing forth 

Always bringing forth

Bringing forth and forward

Moving up through waters

Murky waters of 

Murky waters of time and emotion 

A space like a candle

A Nallur-like entryway

Its open temple jaws

A maw of time travel

Trancelike

If you go barefoot 

Trancelike 

If you go bare chested

Like the waters 

Of a place 

With no rivers 

Only limestone beneath the surface

Limestone of ancient seas

Limestone of ancient coral reefs

Sunken

Then buried 

Then risen

Then finding light

Hosting plants and animals

Pretending in a very convincing manner 

To be soil

Holding, protecting, hosting 

Crustaceans 

And civilization 

I did taste that soil

Like I smelled those smells

And saw the weirs that men built

To breed prawns

In a light light

Halfway across the lagoon

Going to a near deserted island