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Communitas – Ray Davey

A procession of longboats
reflecting songs
native to sacred rivers.
Ours: the Moshassuck
the Woonasquatucket.
 
Colonial buildings kneel in prayer.
Hooded shamans
strike a spark
wood explodes.
Rivers burn
 
illuminating water.
Once again
we gather at riverbanks
 
to sing
a city reborn
in fire.
 
From smoke
eddies curl shadows
all along
riverwalks
lovers whisper.
 
Night
coaxed away
 
the hips of this city sway
to the drums
the fires
 
to this moment
 
this purposeful light.

Ray Davey, the City of Providence Poet Laureate from 2011 to 2016, was born and raised in Providence.