Latin vs. Norteamérica
in Perú
plazas are a spot of shade and color
refreshing water tossed into air
benches to rest, watch the world, meet a friend
flowers to remind you the whole world isn’t barren
and a promise of salvation at one end
in America
plazas are strip malls
culture, one word at a time / cultura, una palabra a la vez
here we learn
of a blue
that is not blue
calling the sky-blue
celeste azul
would be like
mistaking pink
for red
this celestial blue
stands apart
not of this world
but here also there is no space
between heaven and sky
son iguales
ciel
no boundary between the seen and unseen
between life as we know it
and faith in more
*
aquí aprendemos
de un azul
eso no es azul
llamando al cielo azul
celeste azul
seria como
rosa equivocado
para rojo
este azul celestial
se destaca
no de este mundo
pero aquí tampoco hay espacio
entre el cielo y el cielo
son iguales
ciel
sin límite entre lo visible y lo invisible
entre la vida tal como la conocemos
y fe en más
Australia vs. New Zealand
we lumped them before we left:
Australia-and-New-Zealand
countries with the Union Jack,
Southern Cross, English speakers
tea, cricket, rugby, and the queen
later I mention this to a Kiwi
and she’s surprised we would equate them
(which further surprises me)
although now we understand
Australia: hot as blazes
and on fire
blue oily eucalyptus haze everywhere
a massive, unending country
with an almost empty middle of wild desert
mostly flat, with death lurking everywhere:
crocs sharks snakes stingers –
you have to keep the children close –
a tough landscape breeds stout-hearted people
with a ready wit
to take you down a peg
they’ve also got mammals falling out their ears
and the brassiness of a country
built on convict labor –
g’day
New Zealand: pack your puffy even in summer
the Long White Cloud’ll get you
the forest is mostly gone
and the toothy animals were never here
nothing can eat you,
almost not one thing can harm you,
and children roam about the bush on their own
folks ask with genuine self-effacing humor
oh, my, you’re a long way from home –
how’d you come to hear about us?
we’re just a little place
(they’ve no swagger to speak of)
underlying everything is volcano and earthquake
to further humble you –
you’re just a blip in this tiny unstable ocean,
so far away only a bat could make it
Kia ora! they say
pressing the bridge of their nose against yours
this is a place where everyone thinks
about their kaupapa and whakapapa
where people identify with fern fronds and forest birds
where everyone speaks in two tongues
and lives in two worlds
opera house
shells returning the sound of the sea
echoing the breath
trumpeting the news
cradling pearls of reflected human forms
each made from the uncomfortable itch
of grit worried around until
layer by slow painstaking layer
a round rainbow-hued orb
smoothed out the rough patch
& turned injury into art
shaking hands
saying hello
is not the same
as placing your palm
in another’s grasp
feeling their corporeality
in the flesh
letting the electricity
that is your pulse
connect with their spark
putting yourself
in their hands
for even an instant
