New Years in Palmar

Here we burn the año viejo in the streets.
Strike a match

to this weary year and burn burn burn, sparks springing into the
mild darkness. Such quick death.

But, the heat and light
color our faces

Watching the glorious flame dissolve the
blackness and the past
disintegrates before our eyes.

There is no time to wonder about tomorrow and next month
No time to fool ourselves with resolutions, lofty ambition
Only to pay our respects to what has been.

To let it die in a loud spectacular display of firecrackers and gasoline soaked
dolls.

And afterwards the soft puddle of ash
a new day and all that we burned

The “some guys beat up van” taxi from montañita to palmar

( how I met my ecuadorian brother)

7 am new years day
Shake the sand from my hair

His tie-dye t-shirt has a sea horse drawn
on with permanent marker.
He’s 20, no he’s 15 at most.

We are packed in like a string of christmas lights
folded in just so
We are facing each other

I turn my head to stare out the window.
I crave sleep like water.

My eyes close and I don’t realize
Until the driver slams on his brakes.
Open my eyes to find his,

I realize we are not going to crash
and smile.
He smiles.
His face is so familiar to me and I smile again.

He says softly, “I love you”
with a sheepish kid grin.

I laugh and compliment his English.

He twists his hair
with his finger and we sit for awhile in
silence. He looks hard at my eyes, “tienes ojos
lindos”.
I tell him his eyes are beautiful too.

The van stops at Palmar and I wish
him luck in the coming year and climb out.

Pay the driver a dollar and the van
pulls away.

Sometimes, alone in this country
I find a sense of family in the strangest ways.