just before the end Poem by antoine de kom

just before the end
as the colours harmonise
it happens.
the garden begins to open
like a woman who is as she is:
a slight shudder when
the wind gets up and the great
leaves of the of the oven tree say
that st. barth is about to become
independent. the sun burns as we land
just before the end.
for want of light
an abundance of birdsong
the radio tuned to martial music
and a sweet rather formal voice which says that
the little republic in the extremities
of this veranda has from today
been turned into a paradise.