Kites
May
Wet season has passed, afternoons are warm and dry
A breeze now blows across the island
Kids flying kites everywhere
Made out of plastic bags
Different geometric shapes
Like giant bats or prehistoric birds hovering over the village
Down below
Smiling faces
Hold tightly onto a pop can
Wrapped in string
And run through the rice fields
August
Kites are still flying on hot sunny afternoons
Boys with kites bigger than they are
It is not only boys, but young men twice their age
Who are most serious about the kites
Spending hours cutting the sticks that will make the frame
Then neatly placing them to make different shapes and patterns
Finally strips of coloured plastic are added, red, yellow, black
This one outdoing the last
Today zig zagging above me I counted 26
And there were still more
Friends at distant ends of the village
Recognize each other's works of art
Together among the clouds
Each one contributing
To make this fantastic sight
