Wednesday, February 16, 2011

First Days in San Miguel de Allende



1.

The flagellated Christ
is being carried
to San Miguel de Allende.
He must be very heavy

yet the carriers persist
upon the sun flashed road
and the people follow

in the same way that people would seek
a river heard of but never yet found.
they are that thirsty...

2.

I have come, for the first time, to Mexico.
And what has happened
to that intense ambition

with which I always wake?
Soaked up
in the colors, stolen
by the blood Christs.

I am feeling something, incredibly,
like peace...

3.
the tops of the northbound trains are dangerous.
Still, they are heaped with hopefuls.

I understand their necessity.
Understanding, however, it not sharing.

Oh, let there be a wedding of the
mind and the heart, if not today
then soon.

Meanwhile, let me change my own life
into something better.

Meanwhile, on the streets of San Miguel de Allende
it is easy to smile.
"Hola," I say to the children.
"Hi," they say, as I pass

with my passport, and money, in my pocket.




For many years I lived with the shame of being able to come and go from Mesoamerica, while I left my friends behind. They suffered violence, poverty, illness, brokenness, alcoholism, and dying children.  I could leave and they could not.  Now some of them are dead.

It is for that reason, in part, that we took into our homes two young men from Honduras who came up through Mexico on top of one of the trains that Mary speaks of - the Death Train.

Yes I know that all of life is journey towards death!  Yes I know that I can't save every child, bird, and tree!  Yes I know that there are pretty flowers to view along the dangerous path!

I know much and can learn more.

But for today, let there be a wedding of my heart and head.

May I vow with every breath, "I do!"


What is your vow today?


No comments:

Post a Comment