It was the verdant lushness
that startled my senses-
more than the trepidation
of,
where were we to live?
where to work?
what to eat?
Exiles becomes accustomed
to those things...
But after the desert's
barrenness
the lone cliffs,
endless dust...
Trees hued violet,
crimson hibiscus
oranges ripe in April
rainbow- plumed birds,
the colibrí
the yellow- breasted, long- legged one,
there, in the marshes
alongside the Rio
all of them welcomed me
to Piedras Negras
Nature did,
when no one, no human would.
And this tropical leafiness
snakes even,
undulating gracefully
in muddy water,
floating terrapins
flittering, chittering
finches
these things that know
no borders...
enthrall me
in the midst of,
despite of,
hunger and politics
( and those snakes that bear themselves on two legs.)