HUNDREDS OF WORDS... MAY 2014

The day. The family. Could sleep in. We snuck out. And left a note.

Gifts. And things left behind. Become landmarks. To return to. Or be remembered.

Park bench waiting. Surprised by secret sprinklers.

Chinese men. Fight over who pays. Their Costa Rican friend. Sits there. Finishing his meal.

Prearranged hitchhike. With hotel owner. Her ex-husband.

And his niece. I felt uncomfortably unclean.

Sitting in the middle.

The first bus was fast. The second faster.

I waited in the carpark. Two hours.

She told the telephone. Where she was going.

A voice in the telephone. Told her where to turn.

An aging tree trunk. Becomes backstage. A wonderful place. To begin.

Go empty handed. And find a shopping trolley. Play in the present. And the trolley fills.

Two clowns push. One clown pulls. The other clown wanders behind. In single file. The trolley rolls. All the way home. With a wonky wheel.

Banana with ginger. Paw paw with turmeric.

Or mint. Flavours born.

From abundance. And necessity.

Sugar would be. Superfluous.

Awake in the tree house. Hear it stretch.

And creak. Climb out through.

Its window.

The shopping trolley. Became a compost container.

Banana with ginger. Paw paw with turmeric.

Or mint.

Night. Of light. Idea showers. Renata sings me Beatles songs. Softly. In the dark. Beautiful lullabies.

Soles in soil. Pick axe earth. Uproot banana stalks. Dirt work. Cleansing. Releasing.

Joints stiffen slowly. While cement dries.

$800 for a natural birth. Life is an expensive business.

Before the cradle. And beyond the grave.

A storm followed. African rhythms. Shovel work. Skies open. Dance. Sing. Play. A fountain. Of youth.

The cold shower. Felt warm. Afterwards.

Ate birthday cake. The after farts.

Were dog stinky.

Black sand. Grey stones.

Dusty cement.

Volcano craters. Fill with water.

Shovel into buckets. Slide them downhill.

Forget Ipod. Run back. Remember to give. Good morning kiss.

Sprint behind bus. But it doesn´t stop. Stranger tells me to get in. And drops me off. Ahead of the bus.

The bus stops. Tells me to wait. He would be coming back.Shortly.

A butterfly. Crosses city street. Above the traffic.

Ten cent fights. Matters in moment.

Pointless in hindsight.

Hitchhiking is a lesson. The ride arrives.

When it does. Let go.

Give up. Get in.

A cloud of insects. Disappeared.

And reappeared. In the same place.

Knock down a mango. With unicycle. Under drizzle.

Eat it in the bathroom.

Lift an ant. Lifting leaves.

Leave it beside nest. And wonder about miracles.

I remembered her face. But most of all.

Her aroma.

The guard dog broke free. Dragging its chain.

And playing like a puppy.

Sloths on skinny limbs. Reclined.

Still. Steady.

Rake dry leaves. Apply domestic order.

To wild nature. Turn a beautiful mess.

Into an unnatural neatness.

Knock a gnat. Out a dog nostril.

Retrieve a flat ball. Wallowing in puddle.

Kids says it smells. Of turtle piss.

The moment I stop. Stop moving. Stop trying.

Stop stopping. The ride sees me.

And stops too. Where to?

The sloth. Hanging for life.

Falling. Without falling.

Invent games with children. And plastic bags.

The trick. Don´t insist.

Play. Enjoy.

Let it be contagious.

Get into river. Like bed on a cold day.

Itchy grass. Sweaty tiredness.

Swim away. With the current.

Bug lands. And spins.

All over a leaf. Flying away.

Straight.

Leaves dance down. Insects float up.

Humming birds hover. Frantically frozen.

In space.

My favorite way. To see the night. Is in the dark.

See the tree. In the leaf.

See the leaf. On the tree. Who sees.

What the sloth sees. Who sees. The sloth.

A rope. A limb. A swing. A splash.

See tiny lines. And tiny dots. On tiny shells.

A cobweb. Safety net for falling leaves.

Trap net for flying bugs.

The forest flashes. Like pygmy paparazzi.

Glow roaches. Flickering. Fading.

Shooting stars. Faulty light bulbs.

Sticky. Clumpy.

Rusty coloured earth. Pick it. Fork it.

Thump it into shapes.

Disrupt ants. Worms.

And crabs. Transforming slopes.

Into staircases. Four level garden bunk bed.

Sweaty shirt. Dirty pants.

Muddy shoes. Sticky. Stinky.

An stuck.

Mossy trunk. Muddy shoes.

Messy fall. Get balance revenge.

Barefoot.

The baby monkey stopped. Watched me shower.

And urinated.

Scrub muddy histories. From shoes.

Down the drain. Little bits.

Still incrusted in the soles.

Lunch with old friend. And his much spoken of mother. Keep my vegetarianism secret.

When she serves chicken.In mango sauce.

Hear her pride. In losing kilos.

And when the child. On the bus.

Touched her shiny hair.

Sit on doorsteps. Watch the sky swirl.

Wonder when the rain. Will burst through.

Old songs play on the radio. Accompanying stories.

From their time.

Her home was a refuge. For communist revolutionaries.

She referred. To historic figures.

On a first name basis. Making them people.

Again.

That sensation. When head falls off.

On the nod. In the bus.

We left later. And arrived earlier.

Everything turned out perfectly. In the present.

Follow cow paddies. Drawing a wobbly map.

Find a wrinkly wise mushroom. And stick it behind my ear.

Follow the flute. And share the booty.

Chew them up. Into blue tinted mush.

Connect with clouds. And rainbow tree.

See how it all. Fits together.

Light swirls into dark. Dark swirls into light.

Roll down hill. Ear to earth.

Listen for vibrations. Rhythms.

Paroxysms.

See kaleidoscope tunnels. Through sideways grass.

Sneak about silly. Within the game.

Drawn up a tree. Climb with ease. Familiar feeling. Accommodate on branch. And channel animals.

Bellow belly vibrations. And see the transmissions.

Spy on cows. Nosing through backpacks.

The calf farted. Through a skinny gap. Squeezed it out. To squeeze through.

Feel the humidity. Rise from below. Sends me up another tree. A warm precarious safety.

Drop many mangos. Eventually grab one.

Suck it savagely. Skin and all.

Sing bravely.

Baarapbapbapbapbuuuu.

Dance down hill. Organic percussions.

Call and response.

Prehistoric play. Born from branch.

Travels through colorful emotions. Reaches a frenzy.

Then we felt the cold. And called it quits.

No buses. A queue of taxis.

And a speed hump. We lived timelessly. Without dimensions.

But now. How to get home? A pickup passes.

Jump in back. Hoot and howl.

To night freeway. Reach paytoll. Pile into van.

Soccer dad. With soccer son. Playing soccer.

On Ipad. We cheered him on.

The game went to penalties. Dad said.

He´ll cry if he loses. But he won.

We all exploded. Especially the kid.

Shaking his ipad overhead. Like a trophy.

Reach the city. Drag ourselves through it.

See the street people. Hunting for their medicines.

In the rubbish. Food. Sex.

Treasures.

Remember seeing tiny aeroplanes. Float through humungous sky.

Chuckle at idea. That I could be inside.

Remember seeing a star. Seeing me.

And dancing with it. In the humid grass.

Remember staring at my hand. It seemed alien.

Foreign. Far away.

Watch it play piano. All by itself.

Remember how everyone. Who needed to be there.

Was there. Presence.

Like childhood memories. Imagine that.

And remember.

Remember seeing my toes. Stalks sprouting from my feet. Remember seeing the river.

And never arriving. The trip never took me. Beyond the fenceline.

Remember how we laughed. How we played. How we sounded.

Don´t go. To variety show.

Wake up hungover host. Sleeping on the floor.

Blending a juice.

Hear him repeat. The same conversations.

Over and over.

Talk about that. With someone else. Who had also fled.

His presence.

Peel vegetables. With him.

And he tells me. He likes to be.Understood.

Sweep the stairs. When a mango falls.

At my feet. Take it as a prize.

A Sir Prize.

One brother. Likes to brush his teeth.

Before he smokes.

The other. Likes to smoke first. Then eat mango.

We all. Like to smoke.

Before undertaking. Domestic duties.

And feasting homemade pizza.

The park. Was flooded.

With paid artists. Performing for free.

Collect fallen nature. Before arriving at the theatre. Get my Spanish all jumbled.

Trying to explain ideas.

Breathe. And let silent games. Do the explaining.

Watch exercises. Go in new directions. Become new games.

I could never have expected.

Hear that happy laughter. That silly laughter.

Fall from my seat laughter. With wonderful stupidity.

Disappointed. And curious.

To understand a student absence.

Feel that deeper joy. When we connect to the origin.

Melt inside truthful universes. Witness the workshop. Weave and tangle.

Into an incredible knot. That exploded.

In overtime.

Stay another day. There is always time.

Hugs and songs. Sealed the farewell.

Bye Bye friendships. Before boarding the bus.

Sit quietly. Up the back. Renata cried.

I sighed. But didn´t.

Leave suitcase. In roadside diner.

With soulful stranger. Turns out.

Everybody knows him. He´s part of the family.

Wait in rocking chairs. Cracking peanuts.

Watch the sun. Fade to night.

Dig a garden bed. Break the spade. Provoke a blister.

Swingin´ the machete.

Bathe in the river. Adios sloth.

Meet Levi. Pushing a wheel barrow.

Overflowing with coconuts. We wonder together.

Guzzling cocos. No money. No worries. Pure life.

Nose lashes. Lip brow.

Or moustache.

Suitcase stutters. Along rickety railroad.

Sweat across border. Heavy luggage. Light headed.

Swap all my Costa Rican coins. Forall his Panamanian coins.

And make a phone call.

Six hours. In sweaty waiting room.

We stare at soap operas. And glance at one another.

Between skill tester. And coin operated pony. Eat bruised left over fruit.

On bus terminal floor.

New thongs. New blisters. Alcohol stings.

Rub it in anyway.

The rocks. Are sharp.

Clutch to them. Like childhood memories.

And get cut.

Canvas the city. Retire idea. And find her.

In the supermarket.

My longest chest hairs. Are the silver ones.

Pluck them. While remembering.

What to write.

Bumper to bumper traffic. Prominent impossible traffic lights.

Storm off frustrated. Follow instinct.

And reach. Not prominent perfect traffic light.

Heavy hats. Lift spirits.

Bury anxieties. And sinking feelings.

At the red light. You can buy.

Lottery. World Cup Flags.

Fizzy drinks. And pizza.

Go to recharge bus card. At the mall.

Twenty five cents short. Spend twenty dollars.

On groceries. In the process.

Stomach pangs. Reminded me that.

Play had postponed. The urge to poo.

Scabs. Callouses. And burns.

Remind me that. I played.

| http://myfriendtito.mymadcat.com | facebook.com/myfriendtito

Welcome to the end of another Hundreds of Words... publication.

I encourage you to download or print this publication and share it with everyone that you beleive will enjoy it.

Thank You