Quien Sabe?

Quien Sabe

Who knows?

Who knows what this day will bring?

Who knows what this life, this year,

This minute will offer us?

But here in Boca de Tomatlan

There is a rich sweetness that only

Seems to show up at the fringes

Where one field bumps up against another.

River and sea, jungle and beach.

Cement pourers shape a living room floor

Eighty-five steps up the side of a mountain while

Touristas pour space-age dollars into a timeless past.

Diversity flourishes at the edges.

Here there are many edges –

A man in an orange t-shirt casting a

Turquoise fishing net;

A grandmother pounding clothes on river rocks;

A child playing with a mountain mongoose

Under the multi-colored criss-cross of drying laundry …

Scenes captured through a ten megapixel Canon

That would feed a family of four for months

By a visitor whose vacation dollars

Will help feed the multitudes.

Bountiful nature does her part also with unlimited

Red snapper, grouper and shrimp from the sea,

Sweet jack fruit and papayas as big as pebbly footballs;

Backyards filled with banana and coconut palms.

Nearby, Los Arcos shows off its underwater diversity

As white-striped angel fish writhe in a purple and orange 

frenzy for bits of bread dropped into the water 

by giggling children of all ages.

Multitudes of striped jacks join the fray while a stately pair

Of Moorish Idols glide disdainfully at a distance

Their long, graceful plumes waving above them.

In the bay, fishermen pole their boats around the shallow

s-curve sand spit that divides river from ocean even as bells 

announce the first Sunday mass over the chorus of roosters

while in the distance mariachi music pulses into the morning.

  

Soaring inches above the flat, green water, brown pelicans  

Scout breakfast then return from their fishing forays 

To make their stands on the silent, rocking outboard motors 

While a snow white heron stretches its long thin neck

In a rhythmic sun dance to the sound of the surf.

Across the river at Casa de los Artistes,

Paints, canvases, brushes and dozens of gel mediums wait

For another day of immersion in the creative spirit.

Here even more edges mix and mingle as

The hard edge of Photoshop blends into the soft edge of collage

While an arrogant rooster demands a place in every art piece.

Quien sabe?

Who knows?

Who knows what life will bring us?

Sometimes an answer, more often a question,

But always, always and in all ways,

A reminder to live each moment and

Grow where we’re planted.