"cozumel" poems
i know, it's not exactly mesmerising
such bounties with such curdling
crudeness, but that's how it is,
with eyes vectoring into the above,
cobalt, the highest pinnacle of the depths,
a shade like any other,
and then seeking the horizon, the dilution
of the formidable shade into Arctic...
a near white, but not exactly white,
not exactly worth metaphor that's a kindred
of white & black as lack & lack...
just the see-through colour for the allowance
of possessing eyes, not near melted mirrors
of mercury, but by day,
the highest peak blue in hue of cobalt,
and when walking from the mountain's peak,
the eyes spot the Arctic and Adriatic mist hues
outlining a bordering of all things elemantal...
the transparency of the whole dynamo
on being grounded from all elevations,
before dipping into the seas' shrubbery...
for indeed the sky makes use of the close-up, apparent
green shades of the sea, or the Thames grey
without an earl on a royal gondola worthy a parade,
nearer then the grander colour scheme,
but up from space, indeed, all is blue and all is green,
and all is sandy suntanned bronze
and seemingly serene; lest we forgot the dollops
of skeletal, floating in cloud - those scouts of Antarctica;
but from the elemental blue of the sky
receding into the seas of mirrors via arctic into white
if not seemingly see-through, there too i spot
the antidote of white nearing the pristine state of
claiming being see-through, a crow's
bleak colour of being shrouded
in celebratory mourning: the pupil of my eye, black,
and all the world around me, the flattened earth
of my iris, for no astronaut i am to imagine it otherwise,
from a perspective of such heights reached by
fellow man, if i am to be so humbly grounded,
i'll imagine it counter-productively as thus.
Mar 25, 2016
Mar 25, 2016 at 12:00 PM UTC
Home Depot does not sell azure paint.
No. They do have Morning Sky,
Tropical Lagoon, Morning Breeze,
Ocean Cruise, Cozumel, Empress Teal,
Almost Aqua, and Navy. But no azure.
No cyan, either. No plain ol' blue.
I will take my verdant money elsewhere.
Home Depot should be more poet friendly.
r ~ 4/29/14
Apr 29, 2014
Apr 29, 2014 at 11:27 AM UTC
You would not come
To the Mayan Temples
Boring you said
So I went alone
In a crowd of others.
Blue sea, gold sky
And greyness looming.
Now it has come
Like mushy peas
Without the colouring
And you won't come
To Mexico again with me.
Dec 1, 2013
Dec 1, 2013 at 11:04 AM UTC
Flawless
We like to think
our minds and their creations
can only be described as such, can
only be compared to perfection, machine-
made fabric and glass and hugs and love all
wrapped in cellophane and shipped (free of charge)
to Tahiti and Cozumel and other exotic places well-known
for their supposed perfection with brightly-lit, carpeted floors
But our tendencies
Mislead us
It is our flaws that define beauty when true heart is lost among neon
advertisements promising change and retribution only to deliver
the last things you'd expect, the last things anyone would
want: a remote-controlled vacuum, a light-up fish, a
sock that chills your foot rather than warm it in
the night. What a joke, what a sad turn in the
progression of our society. Flaws are and will
always be prominent parts of our lives with
good sound reason backing up this fact
It all comes down to whether you can
come to terms with the reality of
your situation and the little
scratches in your self-
image or whether
you will remain
content to fall
endlessly
into a
lie
Oct 1, 2011
Oct 1, 2011 at 9:35 PM UTC
The sparkling turquoise
of an enormous sea
so hot and crackly
my close friends by
I smile sparkling white
at the sky so clear and bright
a soft sand against my hands
and I am home in this place
of sea and sun
of poor and posh
"I like Mexico," said mom.
Jun 2, 2013
Jun 2, 2013 at 9:33 PM UTC
When you get to Mexico, Cozumel
whether by plane or cruise you sail
really close to your port of call
take a Taxi not far at all
To Sky Reef for some fun and food
snorkel the reef will put you in the mood
have some nachos, all 3 kinds
beef, chicken or shrimp you’ll find
all delicious, servers friendly and kind
Plenty of mixed drinks and have no fear
they have lots of ice cold beer
how about a massage on the edge of the sea
or Tequila tasting, thrown in for free
Have a seat with an umbrella
chill out with the girls and fellas
have a good time at Sky Reef
relaxing excursion, just too brief
Oct 20, 2016
Oct 20, 2016 at 5:07 PM UTC
I've come to love
and know
the color blue to mean
not a Blue Monday
Blue Note or joke
and don't much care to sing the Blues
or for that matter
give them
because truth be told
most of the time
I want to caucus
with those
pumping and stumping
for a Blue Hawaii
or the warm blue waters
pickling poetically
the clam shell white bottom
of Palancar Reef
Whit Howland © 2019
Jul 14, 2019
Jul 14, 2019 at 3:32 AM UTC
Camper parked by the lake, Friday Afternoon
feet in the water under an early rising moon
cooler full of sonic ice, and margarita mix
blender on the table soon it will fix
Chile pepper party lights already in full glow
guitarron beat hits hard in the mariachi flow
discada full of shrimp as the friends arrive
drinks and shrimp fajitas, let you know you are alive
Meteorites streak a trail across the August night
moon smiles like the Cheshire cat, not sharing much light
bikini-clad women dance to the Mexican beat
the stars and ladies are a stunning visual treat
Cozumel is where you make it
no matter how far from home
Friends and food and lots of *****
you just made port on your cruise
Summer Sun or summer night
Tequila tasting makes you feel right
Saturday morning, skiing and fishing
it's not the tropics, but its better than wishing
Sombrero on my head to shade the summer sun
sitting in my bag chair in the water lots of fun
Lounge chairs on the beach, bikinis on display
splish splash and laughter as the women play
while we a just miles, from our home station
having a good time, just like we're on vacation
Guys gather around, for Cuban cigars
day drifts into the night's beautiful stars
Couples start slow dancing in the summer night breeze
lots of contented sighs let out with a loving squeeze
Cozumel is where you make it
no matter how far from home
Friends and food and lots of *****
you just made port on your cruise
Summer Sun or summer night
Tequila tasting makes you feel right
Sep 18, 2016
Sep 18, 2016 at 9:38 AM UTC
SANDOVAL
Your brigs of bustling pilgrims light at last
On this sweet-scented isle called Cozumel.
Depopulating half of Cuba’s farms,
The skills of our six hundred souls, or so,
Erupt now in a pitched activity.
We’ve confiscated idols, and our cross
Now overlooks the rising ropes and tarps;
Our cannons hedge the campground, with our horse,
As secret weapons, hidden in the ships.
ALVARADO
Now what a breezing cakewalk will it be
To pacify this docile flock of lambs!
Let’s ****** the sweetmeats from their trembling lips,
And wean them to the yoke of servitude.
Vassals alone make masters out of men.
CORTÉS
Not yet so fast. For Cuba’s stewardship
Forbids such a carnivorous regime.
Father Olmedo warns us not to tease,
Much less ****** the native nymphs.
ALVARADO Cortés,
We trust that you, like all stargazing men,
Crave glory, fortune, and above all, fame;
That royal favor and divine accord
Will light on those who quell idolatry,
And carve new lands for God and His Castile.
CORTÉS
But like a gentlemanly pirate, I.
For Cuba’s governor deceives himself.
His pure concern for human chattel, gold,
And bandying the Indies as it were
A distant annex of the Moorish war
Has wrought a desert from a paradise.
Long-term success requires a colony.
And with what wherewithal! These islanders
Stand head and shoulders o’er Carribbeans,
With their rich-painted books and towering keeps,
The graceful girding of their modesties-
SANDOVAL
Their slave trades, and their binding bright bouquets-
ALVARADO
Distilling liquor: Culture’s surest sign.
CORTÉS
Our prime directive is to baptize them,
Not march before their eyes the Seven Sins.
But how to learn their Tower-of-Babel tongues?
Oct 16, 2016
Oct 16, 2016 at 12:36 PM UTC
DÍAZ
Captain Cortés, at last our man is found.
From two days inland, natives ferried him.
Father Olmedo greets him as we speak-
A fellow priest it seems.
CORTÉS Bring him to me. Exit Díaz.
From Cozumel to here in Yucatán,
We’ve hunted this elusive castaway.
These Indians hustle us from shore to shore,
And, when their gifts of jade fail, toss us rocks.
ALVARADO
Their dizzying synthesis of amity
Backed up with menace proves unsettling.
Enter OLMEDO, SANDOVAL, and AGUILAR.
SANDOVAL
Now, wayward beadsman, meet our strategist.
CORTÉS
Who is this Indian? Where’s our long-lost priest?
AGUILAR
Hail, Christian knights! Sweet accents of Castile!
CORTÉS
Great welcome, cabined friar, you are free!
AGUILAR
Is it a Wednesday?
OLMEDO It’s the Lord’s day, friend.
AGUILAR
Of course it is! Grace to the only God!
My only link with Europe, all these years,
Has been to count the crawling calendar.
CORTÉS
We’ll need your past, to learn their policies.
AGUILAR
I wish I could. But of their etiquette
I’m ignorant, save slavish drudgery.
CORTÉS
You speak the language, though?
AGUILAR Why, like a native.
CORTÉS
Your name?
AGUILAR Gerónimo de Aguilar.
OLMEDO
Dear Aguilar! Your mother, home in Spain,
On hearing you’d been snatched by cannibals,
Abstained from meat, and cringed at frying flesh,
For fear, by chance, it might be part of you.
AGUILAR
Oh, rush me home to Écija, back where
The only blood drunk is the wine of Christ,
The only flesh consumed, our sacrament.
CORTÉS
What fate befell your fellow countrymen?
AGUILAR
The luckless women were harassed to death,
The men, dishearted. But a happy few
Broke from our cages and were spared for slaves,
Within the warlike clutch of Na Chan Can.
My freedom have your wax and honey bought.
One stubborn soul, Guerrero, stays behind.
Nov 2, 2016
Nov 2, 2016 at 5:17 PM UTC
CORTÉS
But how to learn their Tower-of-Babel tongues?
I think I have an inkling. Sandoval,
Bring me that Díaz from the footmen’s ranks-
A proud alumnus of this school of vice. Exit Sandoval.
Young Sandoval shows promise of promotion,
But, Alvarado, you’re my confidante,
As well as in effect my deputy.
We must concur about these Indians.
They are not possibly the “natural slaves”
Of which the pagan Aristotle spoke,
And can be raised to all the dignity
Of sons of Christ.
ALVARADO I’ll take your word.
CORTÉS Take God’s.
Enter DÍAZ.
DÍAZ God save you, captain! What mighty business of state pulls my
rare proficiencies away from tent-tying?
CORTÉS
So Díaz,
Twice now have you arrived in Cozumel
With this old villain, who reveals to me,
When last you pitched your tents, a year ago,
Your fleet encountered awestruck Indians,
Who nodded at the whiteness of your hides
And uttered, “Castilán . . . Castilán.”
Who came before, that they knew you by face?
DÍAZ
Some say that eight years past, lost in the fog,
A Spanish galleon shattered on these reefs.
Her ribs discharged a dash of castaways
That disappeared into these gloomy woods.
ALVARADO
And thus within hide our interpreters.
DÍAZ
So: Castellano . . . Castilán.
CORTÉS Well done.
Commune with these glad-handed Indians,
And sleuth it out through means of pantomime
If any of our cast-off countrymen
Might swelter yet in this unsparing clime. Exit Díaz.
ALVARADO
And as regards your noble savages?
CORTÉS
I shall induct them to the host of Christ.
I’ll give them scissors, candles, silver mirrors,
With tops and kites to cheer their little ones.
As your bombastic threats have scattered them,
I must so kindly call to coax them back.
ALVARADO
With prayer and kindness- Save us all! Kind words!
CORTÉS
Speak now, or hold your peace. . .
Oct 17, 2016
Oct 17, 2016 at 5:23 PM UTC