barbie dreams

the barbie brings dreams to the dusty roads

with coins in her eyes

can she fill their outstretched hands?

they wonder about her World

a world where they work

for things

things they have no time to use

because they work

for more things

for this Dream.

the perfume of burning wood envelops us

they sit on the sun burnt earth

a woman with a bent back of plants

lays her shawl down for me

this barbie can't get soot in her nails

can't scald her milky skin with equator sun 

can't work all day for a bag of rice and potatoes

they protect this barbie dream

so it remains whole and possible.

they watch me

with beautiful brown hues swimming in their eyes

their children touch my hair

and marvel to understand blue eyes

we sit in a circle of simplicity

a respite of friendship and appreciation

drinking the remnants of water soaked coffee beans

they ask if I can bring the Dream

and I ache

knowing that in them I see the Dream.

MZM 5/17/2007 Cajamarca Peru

 

across the concrete divide

the sell desperately.

i am freshly showered.

i am watched while i watch

the rhythm of the day passes with a 20-person street band

and the bells of bread carts

everyone is waiting

waiting for something

maybe something better.

or maybe i'm the only unsettled one

they can sit on concrete slabs for hours

watching

yet aren't we always seeking?

i want simplicity

they want opportunity

we all want some opening for joy

the woman with half her face covered in mold wants it

the wrinkled hunchback man pushing a cart with 200 oranges wants it

and me, fresh and clean, i want it.

from our unsettled spaces in the human story

we each do what we know

waiting to open new magical golden doors

across the concrete divide

the door opens

and i walk thru.

MZM 4-29-07

Café Z
Lima Peru

Car horns
Through the sea of exhaust
There is discomfort in discovery
I am naked by the virtue of the passport I carry
They see dollars signs in place of my blue eyes
I am a privileged figment of my own judgment
I am choking on my own judgment in the clouds of burning gasoline

Who the hell am I?
I am in that uncomfortable abyss that opens when you choose to see with other eyes.

There is so much to be learned in this space. It’s discovery. It’s what DiscoverHope is.

We can walk paths we’ve always known and walked many times— the foliage and the landscape are familiar. When you come to the end of that path, you confront the enormous cliff in front of you. It has an amazing vista. Your familiarity fades. You breathe in the incoming wind, it blows a thousand stories about people on their own treks. there is something genuinely incredible about every story being so different and so valuable in its own way. The vista below in this place is full of electric green—everything you see has experiences of its own.

You look back from this vista. You know the way back. There is an unspeakable melancholy and a wordless excitement. There is a death opportunity for part of you with a promise of a birth. But it goes against reason and comfort.

To discover is to be enthusiastic about the impending birth regardless of the courage it will take. “enthusiasm” has Greek roots meaning “a god within.” How awesome to consult that god within and to summon the courage to leap into that new abyss, trusting-knowing-living-awake. Sure, you may be scared, but fear can be replaced by the Light that comes with trusting that you want to live awake.

This is discovery—meeting yourself on a new path with no trail blazed, whatever that is. It may be the job you’ve always wanted, the art you want to create, the decision to be a parent, buying a new home, forgiving someone, creating a passion and enacting an intention.

In this new place you meet yourself again. You are different and changed. This ripple goes infinitely into the Universe. It changes who you once were, who you are, and who you will become in that decision. You begin with new opportunity. This is hope—a chance to create a new vision for yourself.

In all of this there may be discomfort. This wrung in my stomach. There is a brand new path. What is ahead is not seen. I know there is confidence in trusting, to walk with Light and accept the discovery. Here we see how standing for a vision, no matter how small or large it seems, can change the world in ways we may see or not see. Knowing is great enough.

Mzm 4-24-07 Miraflores Lima