Heavy the shrug of years, so short the will to negotiate,
the United States created a permanent struggle process

for the decontamination of soils and aquifers on Terceira,
weaving necessity of scientific certainty, cover of permanent doubt.

If a site is wrung out and it tastes of hydrocarbons spit it out,
have a rinse, and lick it—fingers confining nostrils with a pinch.

The summary of the study said likely—sound of press
with nothing to write but this. The uneasy story

of a map and the force inside the map looms in negotiation,
full of ink and power, tug of error and the inability to err.

The gall of America is in the statement, the written admission
of nothing. So a mighty state, so the new testing of aquifers,

so the heresy of fault unsure again as it always must be.
If asked to heal, ask instead are we sure if / are we if / our

if / I meant to say we could if—this plays on a great loop
from a great future, we can promise you will see it / if.

For now, who oversees our overseas when over-seized from bile?
There, in a room: a soft operation ending in agreement between

Portugal and the U.S. to meet in July in December in soil
in careful sand. There are pollutants biting their way into

the conversation. You can see in the corner of a mouth
the mess of contamination as if spit from a monitoring well

of bilabial indecision—you know, things that make you go
[hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…].






Note

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[1] Homophonic translation of an English translation of “Lajes: Vice-Presidente do Governo dos Açores Vai Ser ‘Duro' nas Negociações com Americanos,” an article published by Praia Express on December 12, 2021.