The Poem at the Beginning of the World

by Craig Santos Perez

~

whe

n
the

wild

ensemble

of

[earth]
sings be

“silent”

the

n
with

every

muscle

of

your
[human] body

re-

arrang

e
the

letters to

“listen”

Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru writer from the Pacific island of Guam. He is the author of five books of poetry and the co-editor of five anthologies, He teaches at the University of Hawaiʻi, Manoa.