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
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.
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.
What a beautiful story. This reads like listening to someone tell a real interesting story, one you can't walk away from. It contains an important message, too, I think. Wonderful.
Oh bravo my friend. This was simply amazing.
I hung on every word from beginning to end.
Very inspirational and touching. I enjoyed
this so much! Thanks for sharing this beautiful
write.
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.
I feel part of your purpose, as is with all is what doing right here... helping others to understand the real importance of life. We take nothing with us. It harms nothing helping another fellow human, but does only good for all involved. Your experiences are not in vein, my friend. There are many who will come across your writings, understand where you have been, and feel less alone in this mighty, yet small world. I know. One of your writings has already done such for me... Know this; you make a difference for the good.
Oh god, Apollonia, Hemmingway....that's exactly it. You really hit the nail on the head.
As always, it's best to be constructive, even when the work is great. So I'm gonna offer up a correction, in the line "Un gran fiesta en la cuidad en la noche." Fiesta is feminine, so it ought to be "una gran fiesta". It's a mistake that bilungual speakers tend to make, I know I make it often enough myself. Otherwise your Spanish is pretty strong, and I particularly like the fact that you've thought the dialect through enough that many of the mistakes stem from being literal, ordered translations from Spanish. Exactly the sort of thing a non-native speaker does.
At first I wasn't sure whether the mistake in grammar were a stylistic choice or genuine mistakes, but I think you push the point far enough to make it clear without going so far as to make it painfully so. Although these following two are certainly typos and not choices:
"We have been here awhile.
Alot of bad times." ("alot" and "awhile" should both be two words)
"Hoy es un buen noche." Again, the same mistake as above. Should be "una buena noche".
"She ask why ws he so sad?" Typo.
"We don't need alot in life." Should be two words, as above.
All pedantic corrections aside, this is seriously a great piece of work. I genuinely think that this will be the century that promulgates multi-lingual writers (in the sense of writers who use more than one language within a single work) and you're already on that, so congrats!
I'm fatigue from suffocating in goals of work and money.
Wow does that hit home. Hello Coyote Poetry. One of my blog names is "coyote dreams" found your name interesting.
A wonderful poem. Resonant - a story told. Well done.
This is a beautiful story! As my son has just joined the Air Force (leaving in January for boot camp) I am hoping that he finds many blessings (like these you speak about) in his travels! Thank you for sharing your story!
Elders have so much wisdom, vision. Great, indeed!
Oh, my, I simply love this one; it reminds me of Hemingway, and he is one of my very favorite writers. More importantly, I felt myself in this piece. I could see it, feel it...
I also enjoyed the second language you brought into the work, really adds to the creativity. Conclusion is superb. It seems as though it should be a short story....
A favorite. Thank you for posting such a wonderful piece, Coyote.
A Poet and writer who love to read and write.
My pleasure is reading about the bad and good in a life.
Also to honor the Poets/Writers of the past by reading their words.
Remember .. more..
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