A Poem About Aruba

[charlescroes]

I CLOSED MY EYES
5/12/2006

I closed my eyes and
Thought about the many places I had been
I thought about the many words I had read
And even the words I had written

My eyes remained shut and ..

My mind wondered to far off lands
Where meadows are full with green things
Where trees have endless amounts of leaves
Where mountains wear white hats
Where valleys hold soft streams
Where the canyons in the earth capture untold beauty

My eyes remained shut while

My mind thought about scenes in movies
Oceans all blue and full of anger while feeding small fishing boats
White houses with Cobalt blue trim that line the Grecian streets
The splendor of cathedrals
The magnificence of golden bridges
The loveliest smiles on the faces of children who have hunger as a part of their lives

I closed my lids tighter and my nose remembered …..
The smell of coffee
The baking of bread
Countless cooking by the beach
The fragrance of a woman
The sweat of a child
My grandfathers’ pillow

My ears recalled…

The sounds of the music of my first dance and how I stumbled
The words of my mother when I pained
The first utterance of my child at birth
My cat - in the day – in the sun – on the porch – making purring sounds endlessly
The sound of talking in the house

My stomach sent me a message and I remembered my hunger

The ache grumbled and was real
I opened my eyes – looked at the earth
And saw that …

I was sitting
In my yard
Buttocks on ground
My back was leaning to the bent shape of a Divi tree
My head was cradled on my arms and they rested on my knees
I looked at the earth
The earth was made of brown sand
The millions of dead leaves that had become a brown mulching powder

Sweat was falling from the point on my nose
I saw that I was wearing torn tennis shoes
There was the smallest piece of a broken toy off to the side
An old wooden thread-spool, which was stained by time, sat listlessly
In front of me was a line of ants carrying bits of ‘white’ something
Even, like our small island - in the world of ants, the queen is powerful

And understood that

Everything in my past had inadequately prepared me for this bit of splendor.
This fleeting moment of eloquence

With care not to disturb the ants,
I reached down and took Aruba’s’ earth in my hand
Smelled it
The earth that lives under trees is soft and brown
I put it to my lips
And
Tasted home
My hunger left me and I never looked back



Charles Croes
5/12/2006

[kevin d]

Thanks for that, Charles

[BigPapa]

Very nice Charles....I like to walk with you....Very Nice

[AuntieMame]

Eloquent, beautiful imagery.

There are tears in my eyes.

[pgsoder@yahoo.com]

I loved the poem Charles. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[tico]

Charles...Every time I read one of your posts or little stories..I get very homesick for the island...keep up the great work...you are a true friend to all of us
Tico