Trujillo

A long time ago I lived this story. I will go back one day to thank the people of Trujillo for showing me life can be good.

                                            

Trujillo --- A story                                       

                       Trujillo

My delusional mind and forsaken dreams seem so far away.

I console myself with Honduras rum and

roaming the discos and nightclubs.


I'm fatigue from suffocating in goals of work and money.


I have volunteer for every mission since I rejoin the Army in 1991.
I got lucky and I'm on a medical mission in Honduras.
Assisting Doctors with water and fuel for giving treatment in the mountains. 


Today I'm in Trujillo.

Me and one Soldier got stuck in the beautiful city for a few days because
of rainy season. All the road were damaged and closed.



We stay at the American Inn.
The Hotel is on the mountain.
You can see the Caribbean sea for miles.


A beautiful young woman brought food to us.
She told us.
'Un gran fiesta en la cuidad en la noche."
She poured the flesh juice into our glasses.
She smiled and looked at me.
"You may be able to enjoy yourself."


Trujillo is a old city.
So beautiful and so much history.
The people of the city don't seen to see us.
They are busy with their lives.


As always I roamed alone into the city.
Night was coming.
I heard music being plays on the beach.
The people were dancing and celebrating being alive.


I'm being waved over by a young woman.
She is standing by a fire on the beach.
She ran to me. 

Took my hand.
Brought me to the fire.


She puts me into a chair.
The woman is wearing a light dress showing a young and
beautiful body.
Many more woman are near by talking and laughing.


I asked for a rum and coke.


She came back.
Her dark eyes are sad.
Her hair flowed down her back.
Her body was young and strong.


She puts a mosquito net over me.
She whispered.
"The mosquitoes are muy malo en la noche."
I thanks her and try to give her money.
She won't accept it.


She told me.
"Un gran fiesta hoy in la noche.
Un fiesta de Libertad.
Ignoro como explicarlo.
Encantado.
Estoy a sus ordenes."


I sat and drink my rum and coke.
The moon  appeared and the night begins to overtake the day.


Many people on the beach now.
Everyone is kind to a misplaced American.


A old man came and sat with me.
The same young woman bring a mosquito net
and put it over his large chair.


In perfect English the man told me.
"Welcome to my party.
I'm a Doctor.
My name is Roberto."
I shook his hand.


He point at the young woman.
"She is my daughter Rosa.
She is my joy and pleasure in my world."


I asked did he want a drink?


He gave me a kind smile.
Told me.
"I'm a old man.
I can see you are not a well.
The rum won't fix your problems.
You are twisted up and
looking for the wrong things."


He ordered us a elixir of fresh fruit.
Told me taste the gifts of the spirits.
I told him the drink is amazing.


He told me " Look at the old city.
We have been here awhile.
A lot of bad times.
The people of Trujillo overcame them."


"The tropics bring the fruit and food of Nature's gifts to us.
The drink is the combination of the fruit of life.
You must release the darkness.
Celebrate a new day to do something worthwhile."


Rosa ran to us.
Told her father.
"It is time to dance."
Her soft brown eyes begged me to dance.
She picks me up.


The soft drums are playing.
I tried to follow her movements.
She is young and full of life.
I just try to keep up.


Many people on the beach now.
Rosa brought me to a group of people.
All are very kind.
I shared my cigarettes.
Rosa smiled and told me.
"Hoy es un buen noche."


I sat with the old man.
He ordered us coffee.
He told me.
"All things have a purpose."


"Somehow you wander into my Trujillo.
I'm thankful for a new friend."
Rosa brought the strong coffee.

He told me.
"I have a story for you."


"There was was young man.
He thought he had nothing.
He fell on the beach crying.
The Sky Spirit came and told him.
Look up.


He looks up and saw the banana tree around him.
The mangoes growing in the back of him.
He reached for the fruit.
They were sweet and good.


He still cries sitting on the beach alone.
The Spirit of the sea came to him.
Told him look at the ocean.


The man see a net for catching fish.
He works all morning.
He caught many fish.
He ate what he needed.
He went into the village and gave the
extra fish away.


He sat down and started crying again.
The Spirit of the mountain came to him.
Told him to look up.


The man looks up and see a beautiful woman
bringing him bread and coffee.


She thanks him for the fish.
She asked why was he so sad?


He told her I'm alone and
do not know my reason for life?


The woman smile and sit with him.
Tells him he could work for my uncle.
My uncle always need strong men who can fish.
She takes his hands.

Tells him.
We are all family in the end.


The man realized the spirit had taught him to see
that life can be good for him.
The young woman and the man walk together back into
the city holding hands."


  I smile at the old man.
Told him.
"My ailments ain't so easy to fix.
I'm contaminated by bad decisions."


"My exhausted spirit saw the fraud in my way of life.
I can't find discarded dreams of youth.
I'm defaced love with my greed.
I'm here for consequences of many poor decisions."


Rosa is at my feet now.
Watched my eyes.


The old man laughed.
Told me.
"You are young and many mile to go.
Just try to learn yesterday was just education.
To teach us right from wrong."


"Stay with me in Trujillo for a few days.
Your spirit will become strong again."


I accepted his offer and kindness.
Rosa is behind me.
Caressing my head and hair gently.
Singing a sweet love song in Spanish.


The old man smile.
Tells me.
We don't need a lot in life.
In the end we take nothing with us.
You need to figure out what is important.


Rosa is dancing barefoot on the beach.


I leave my chair,
Dance on the beach of Trujillo with a
beautiful woman.



The old man smile and I can hear his laughter.
 

                        Coyote

                        1994

 

Author's Note

I was lucky being in the Army for 15 years. I saw and met great people who were kind to a man looking for a purpose to be alive.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

This is one of those rare prose-poems that speak simply yet .. take the reader on a wonderful adventure. The phrasing is uncluttered but eloquent, the moral is clear but doesn't scream ..

It takes a real writer to touch the heart, it takes a real man to show his face along with his words .. thank you.

[Soul Magic✯]

great ink... i enjoyed the journey in this piece. Trujillo definitely sound like a great place to visit. very wonderful story bro :)

[Jason Knight]

I cannot find words or even thoughts, to explain how my mind swirled and my soul fought. The paragraphs take me into the mind of such man, as if I know him, a long lost friend. It's all so vivid and full of life, there is no hate, some regret, but there was no strife. The memories might bring some pain, yet the wisdom it sparks does not leave me the same, for we must acknowledge that we're players in life's game. Such simple way of telling, now look at that, I knew where all this was getting. A real writer reaches the heart, an even better writer can rip it apart. In the past there were tears, but just know, that there is no longer reason for fears.

[Saturn's Lover]

I loved this and the way you wrote it! The words you used were so descriptive and i could just picture everything so well. Great write!

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

It is beautiful...it is as if the reader is with you over there...though i would say the length could have been less...as in between the poem loses the pace and again picks up towards the end...

[Fabian G. Franklin]

This is a wonderful real life adventure piece. I do think the syntax could use a wee bit of improvement to improve the flow for the reader. It breaks and stumbles here and there like a person not overly familiar with the subtleties of the spoken English language. It reads more like spoken word than poetry. But that is fine. By reading this; the way it is worded makes me think that Spanish is more of a first language than English for you. But don't let that get you down. My Spanish is horrible! lol But I enjoy trying to converse with my hispanic friends in their own tongue anyway. lol They, of course, make lots of fun of me for that but that's okay. I have friends from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and one from Peru. I am fascinated by other cultures and customs...I just love people! I also have friends from Indonesia, China, Egypt and Turkey...the list goes on. I love to hear their thoughts about America and how we are globally percieved as a country. Very interesting to me. I'd love to see this piece tidied up a bit. I think it would be a great addition to a travel journal or an article for a magazine.

[Nick Reynolds]

This cannot be considered simply poetry or a piece of writing, this is art. Thank you for sharing this with us all.

[J. Hampton]

Epiphanies come in unexpected places...
The simplicity of life and its treasure lies ...in actually seeing them
Joy comes not from things ....but the way we see them
not what we haven't but what we have...
a nice piece ....its formless flow lended a pur and simple personal touch to it
very nice

[Lena M. P.]

What a profound story of a lost soul seeking a higher purpose in life and a reason to survive long enough to find it. You have been blessed with many people in your life who have befriended you in your times of need. All you had to do was reach out and embrace the gifts of friendship.

[Nassira Merahi]

This is a beautiful story, very touching and nicely conveyed....
You teletransport the reader into a world of kindness and wisdom ....
I love it! Thank you for sharing Coyote :)
Salaam

[Iota]

I think this is so true, most people spend their lives trying to reclaim the past and therefore missing the present. Great advice he shared with you. There were many parts of this poem I enjoyed, it contains so much experiences in it. 15 years in the army, nice :)