Georgette's Revenge

To be bonded isn't pleasant. It's invi- sible, sticky, ineluctable-lighter than
To be baptized in salty waves was a surprise. Daniel gripped the white casting net in his teeth; part of it wrapped around me- a white web over my black skin: he cast me out again and again. To cry would cost him dearly in the neck-the	tremendous power in the neck. His bald, perspiring head bent intently forward: never a more beautiful Neptune. At daybreak, lying on the porch of Daniel's cabin, we watched the moon and sun. An occasional rat snake	slid between the floorboards to eat the insects. The mosqui- toes of Sénégal fly low, seldom rising to the level of the chest. Is the kiss for each person different? I hoped to become a virgin. Before the first

kiss, I practiced on my wrist, over and over. A house made of sea- shells, and in my yard, parakeets of all colors	flew, and monkeys swung in the trees. In a dugout canoe, we explored the man- grove swamps. We	discovered oyster beds where we loved to dig for hours. Wind in my hair. Have you met the love of-
sea foam, stronger than undertow. One bathes there at risk, no lifeguard. But without it, there is only death.