"HOMESICKNESS"

Bougainvillea of many hues- Peru

At this time of year as the winds bring down tall branches scattering them across our island roads and the temperature is on the chilly side, I miss the warmth of Peru and Costa Rica. Here I present some poems written about one of my favorite "hot"places on earth!

IT IS SPRING NOW IN PERU

 THE BURROWING OWL SITS BY HER NEST IN THE BARREN GROUND

            THE WHITE-TAILED JAY FLITS THRU THE GREEN WHILE

Fork-tailed Woodnymph (Mts of Ayabaca)

                        TWO GOLDEN-BACKED WOODPECKERS DO

                                    WHAT IS NATURAL THIS TIME OF YEAR.

PICAFLORES ARE WONDROUS IN THEIR GOWNS OF RED, GREEN, BLUES,  AND PURPLES AND

SMALL PARROTS CAN BE HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND BUT RARELY SEEN AS  MY  FAVORITE CRESTED CARCARA WAITS FOR FOOD TO FLY HER WAY.

THE EVER PRESENT TANAGERS OF MANY HUES AND THE HUGE FAMILY OF FLYCATCHERS ARE EVERYWHERE IN YELLOWS, ORANGES AND GRAYS...

I MISS THE BIRDS OF PERU

(I added over 200 birds to my life list in Peru
and another 170 in Costa Rica)

Cotton handweaving-  Ayabaca, Peru

        MY PEOPLE

OH MY PEOPLE OF PIURA

           WITH YOUR READY SMILES AND OPEN HEARTS

                       SO WILLING TO TAKE ME

INTO THE

            FABRIC OF YOUR LIVES

WEAVING

           OUR SOULS TOGETHER INTO THIS

           TAPESTRY OF NOT COTTON OR SHEEP’S WOOL

           BUT OF LOVE….

(in my 6 weeks in N. Peru I never saw a llama or alpaca- 
only sheep- the main crop being cotton)

Cloud forest, Ayabaca, Peru

THE IMPOSSIBLE

THEY SAID IT COULD NEVER BE DONE

            DRAGGING MY KNEE ALONG AS THO IT

            WAS NOT A PART OF ME

BUT I MADE IT 10,000 FEET TO THAT MAGIC WONDROUS FOREST

            WHERE THE CLOUDS ENVELOPED US LIKE CAPES

                        AS WE SEARCHED FOR THE BIRDS OF PURPLE, CRIMSON, GREEN

                        AND SO MANY SHADES OF YELLOW I LOST COUNT...

NOW BACK AT SEA LEVEL, I DREAM OF THAT HIGH PLACE WITH ITS GENTLE QUIET

            PEOPLE, UNLIKE THE NOISY LOWLANDERS-

            AND THE FOODS NEVER BEFORE TASTED AND THE ANCIENT CHURCH WITH SO MANY

                        STRANGE PRACTICES THAT I LAUGHED AFTER MASS,

            AND SO MANY BIRDS FOUND IN THAT LOST HORIZON STILL HERE ON EARTH...

The arana

THE ARANA IN THE BANO*

HELP I YELLED

            CLUTCHING THE TOWEL AROUND ME AS

            THE MANY LEGGED FURRY CREATURE

                        CLUNG TO THE WALL- INNOCENT

OF ANY WRONG DOING.

WHAT IS IT SCREAMED JUDY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

            ALWAYS READY TO JUMP INTO THE FRAY.

            AN ARANA IN OUR BANO I YELLED DROPPING THE TOWEL

            AND REACHING FOR MY NIGHTIE

TRYING TO BAT THE THING TO HELL AS IT QUICKLY SCRAMBLED UP A HOLE INTO THE

WALL OF THE VOLCANO-LIKE BATHROOM CEILING.

I DON'T MIND THE FOX AT THE DOOR EACH EVENING AND MORNING

            I DON'T MIND THE FACT THAT WE CAN'T FLUSH TOILET PAPER DOWN THE

            JOHN

OR THAT THERE IS NO GLASS ON OUR WINDOWS OR THAT A WILD

SPECTACLED BEAR WAS SEEN NEAR OUR CASA LAST NIGHT

OH NO, IN THIS PARADISE ALMOST ALL THINGS ARE ACCEPTED EXCEPT

THE ARANA IN OUR BANO!!

* the arana was a Chilean Tarantula

            -a Bano is the bathroom

The infamous Bano in Chaparri- Peru

ROYALTY

EVERY MORNING THE GUARDS SALUTED ME

            AS THO I WAS SOME DIGNITARY

LITTLE DID THEY KNOW OF MY SECRET MISSION…

YES, I AM A TERROR

           WITH MY BINOCULARS

                       AND BAG FULL OF HEAVY SUSPICIOUS ARTICLES

           FOR DISCOVERING WHAT MANY DO NOT SEE AROUND THEM

IN THE TREES, ON THE BARRON GROUND, FLYING HIGH OVER ME

Garden at Uni. Piura (45 years ago this was desert)

           LIKE THE STEALTH OVER WHIDBEY

ARMED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IS TODAY

           SO READILY FOUND ON THE NET

I CAN DECIPHER ALL THE WONDER ABOUT ME…

(guards were at gate to University where I 
daily went to Mass & to bird watch)

MOTHER ABBESS

HER PEOPLE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE

            BUT

                        KNOWING THEM HELPS ME

TO  UNDERSTAND HER THO I THINK HER

            ENGLISH MOTHER TEMPERED SOME OF HER

                         TRAITS

I SAW HER IN SO MANY FACES OF THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLES-

WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR HER FATHER TO COME DOWN FROM THOSE MOUNTAINS

                SO MANY YEARS AGO?

THIS WEEK WE CELEBRATED HIS PASSAGE INTO A NEW LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN

            OF THE FATHER

WHEN WILL I LOOK ON THOSE DEAR FACES?

            IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ANOTHER LIFE?

Friends in Piura, Peru