10 noviembre 2010- miercoles
Tomorrow marks my 3 month anniversary of arriving in Guatemala! Interesting paradox….seems like I’ve been here forever, but everyday there are challenges to remind me of my newcomer status. Here is a poem I wrote last Saturday during the 2 hour bus ride (in between bumps) to Quezaltenango (nickname Xela) which is the 2nd largest city in Guatemala.
Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer at the home of the U.S. Ambassador
Journey to Xela
Lurching along packed dirt roads past fields of corn,
Sentinels to the life-giving food, smoke curls up from homes
Where likely a woman clad in tejido tends the noonday meal and fire.
Hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder on this bus,
A pair of dark brown eyes peer at me from beneath a knitted cap.
The future of Guatemala examines me, a pale face amongst the brown.
Other babes sleep peacefully, snug in colorful slings upon mothers’ backs.
Bent but dignified older women with folds of fabric upon their heads
Peer out the dirt-streaked window, perhaps visiting family today.
Pine trees line the highway, some reddish brown and struggling with disease.
In the distance I spot the perfect cone that is Volcan San Pedro,
Its large and silent presence protects Lake Atitlan.
Pueblos of concrete block homes and metal lamina roofs
Are sprinkled along the highway, amongst a checkerboard of cornfields.
We are stopped briefly and I see a woman beneath a bright colored umbrella
Patting out her tortillas at this roadside stand announcing “papas fritas”.
Family groups trudge along the highway with sturdy women
Carrying bundles in colorful cloth in dignified balance upon their heads.
Boys and men are bent over in the strain of carrying leña (firewood)
In huge quantities, the straps pressing upon their foreheads.
My fellow bus passengers sit stoically, lost in thought,
Perhaps contemplating their intended activities in the big city.
Such is a typical Saturday morning here in Guatemala
As we bounce along listening to the strains of bachata music on the radio.
I pause in my nightly grind of paper grading, read my email, and find your blog. I really enjoyed your poem. I could see Guatemala through your images (and remembering the Mayans in Belize). Thanks for some fresh lit. (No offense, Shakespeare)
By: Sherry Wright on 11/11/2010
at 5:24 am
un poeta ha nacido. Did not know you had it in you. Lovely peom and congrats on your 3rd month aniversary.
By: Adriana on 11/11/2010
at 9:19 pm
you look very pretty too.
By: Adriana on 11/11/2010
at 9:22 pm
Gracias…I do enjoy trying to capture scenes in written prose or poetry. Certainly this beautiful and challenged country offers up many images and opportunities!
By: janetwright2guatemala on 11/11/2010
at 10:23 pm
Thanks…I’ll try to capture more of this country not just in photos but in words as well.
By: janetwright2guatemala on 11/11/2010
at 10:24 pm
Janet,
your words leave an indelible imprint on we who follow you. Thank you for sharing this part of your life.
By: ralph on 11/12/2010
at 12:32 am
Jan, We really enjoyed your poem, with your vivid descriptions of all you see around you. We can easily visualize what you are describing, in such lovely detail. Your blogs keep you close: We look forward to each new one.
By: Mom and Jim on 11/15/2010
at 2:10 am
Janet,
I do look forward to your words. It is you in a different and very beautiful light. They are inpsiring and I am proud of who you are. It does sound like you are fully there, with your hands and feet in to your elbows and knees.
The poem was great. Please write more. You have the abililty to paint even a better picture with them. I can close my eyes and see just what you see, except for when I do, I can’t read the words.
By: Michael on 11/15/2010
at 7:38 am