What I Envisioned Years Ago With No Way to Make it Happen is Real Today!
Muggy Palo Alto Summer days
The cacophony of birds
Mix with unusual occurrences of mosquitos and beetles
Swarming in my bathroom at night.
Like messengers sent
Lest I forget.
These birds and bugs
Warm my heart
Sparking sweet memories of
sticky Julys in La Manzanilla.
How I longed to be there
But how?
Determined to get back to where I belong
After a long absence
I made the commitment
I found a way.
Renewed purpose
Replace nostalgia and longing
Once again
I would be heading home.
Like the annual reunions in Same Time Next Year
Romance
Joy
Giddiness
Sustain me
Through two last tough weeks at work.
I make my trek
Stepping off the plane in Manzanillo
Heat and humidity
Welcome me back!
After a year and a half
And eighteen hours of travel
I finally enter my house
La Casa Sagrada del Jaguar
I crash happy
I crash hard.
It doesn’t take long for
That familiar
Morning after feeling
To hit me like a brick the next day.
Awesome burdens
Expenses
Future repairs
Every where I looked.
Patio falling apart
Hammocks destroyed
Nowhere to lie to
Enjoy this luscious yard
Mattress ruined
How will I pay for all of this?
Am I living an illusion?
I escape these questions
With a nap.
Breeze becomes wind
Cooling clouds return
Along with mosquitos
And beetles
And frogs
And birds
And towering
Flowering tamarindo trees
And a plethora of butterflies
Drinking from the blossoms of the
Huele de la Novia bush
I planted 8 years ago
Now it stands 12 ft. high
With a carpet of petals below.
I write
And write
And write
Tedious changes of my book revision
Bring fatigue with every page.
I walk outside
Smelling
Seeing
Hearing
My favorite things.
Nightime hits
Windows open
Intoxicating fragrance
Fill yard and house.
In this dizziness
I dream of Persian courtyards
Long ago.
Everywhere I look
(beyond my rotting patio)
Is beauty
The grace of nature.
Next day
Evening comes
Swollen dark clouds
Like milk filled breasts
Tease the soil.
After much anticipation
They release
Offering wet for all who thirst
I celebrate with
Every bird
Beetle
Palm tree
Petal
And person.
How glorious
Water can be
When we thirst
For so long.
Is it real or is it just me?
For now
I am not looking at
Things to be done
I am not worried about
How to do all of this
Or
How to pay for all of this.
I enjoy cool rain
Sounds of happy birds
Lusciousness
And this place
I call
Home!
Fresh
Clean
Thick air
Green
Wherever I look.
This is real
I am in love
And I think it’s for life!
