Cesair's Feet: A Poem by Benn

Cesair stood amongst them
Watching those who followed her
Swallowed by the gnashing waves
Screams of the dying lost in angry winds
The sorrow storm
The dying storm
The storm where it all begins

They cursed Cesair
The fifty women who were left
Fatherless, sonless, husbandless
Screaming, "All of this for a vision?"
"But YOU, Cesair, are left with father and husband . . ."
Cesair who lead them
Cesair who longed, then, for death

One ship left
Among three that began
And still they sailed on
Sailing in an endless sea
Desperate for a vision dreamed
Dreamed by Cesair
Cesair who longed for death

Then She came
The land that Cesair was born to be
Sorrow became joy
Hope set fire by the rays of a falling sun
Longing was born in Cesair's heart
And a feeling that she had seen all of this
Before . . .

Cesair, first to see
First to touch
Stepping free from fettered faring
Bare foot embraced by ageless sand
The first caress of a lonely isle
With Cesair, who longed for death
With Cesair, who longed for life

I sing of the mystery of Cesair's foot
I sing of connection once made
Becoming unassailable by time
Youthful woman merging with ancient land
In that step, Banba begins
Born of the union of sand, sea, sky
And the tired feet of Cesair

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