Questions For Ms Pearl Poem by Frank Bana

Where are you hiding now, Miss Pearl
Where once we lingered hand in hand
The streets of youth and joyous dance
The beach where names dissolved in sand

Do you remember still, Miss Pearl
How we laid our innocence away
In coffee thirst and open books
Of DH Lawrence and Jean Genet

You were the first I loved, Miss Pearl
Before the fall from grace to lust
That came so hard, in flames so fast
Burning our purity and hearts

I praise your lovers all, Miss Pearl
The teacher at the desert school
The rivers dry, the songs so few
Children we never made or knew

Did you assume I could forget
There's always more I can regret
A girl with dark and jewelled eyes
The deepest soul of all our tribe

It's been a long, long time, Miss Pearl
How was your journey through the world
To empires that command the heart
In fields where G-d placed us apart

Where may you shelter now, Miss Pearl
With dreams darkened by prayers and doves
In faded rooms of boarding homes
Or in the sweet embrace of love