Cusco V-VII, Pisac III,, Cusco VII

Cusco V 3.17.11

Two worn hands moving
Without rest, one smile placed
Humbly between lips

Cusco VI 3.18.11

Feet treed over coals
Lungs beg to be put to rest
We come to a bridge

A spiny cactus
And velvet Spanish moss hides
The sacred stone cliff

Cusco VII 3.19.11

Closed eyes open up
To a sun in full noon and
I put on cool shades.

Silhouetted hills
Welcome glorious full moon
And framed her beauty.

Pisac I 3.20.11

Red wine in crystal
River in a terraced hill
Full moon in clear sky

Pisac II 3.21.11

Saw you on a bike
Wearing a frown because it’s
Two sizes too small

Pisac III 3.22.11

Carrot cake, red wine
The essence of vacation
Realized before noon.



Cusco VIII 3.23.11

As town wakes and warms
and last drips of wine are drained
we say our goodbyes

La Isla Del Sol 1

In steep green hills the farmer plants his seed

Swiftly the sheep and donkeys run with ease

A humble people knew not pride nor greed

The sun is strong but pleasant with a breeze

A refuge and a peaceful sanctuary

The silence spoke with wind then stillness came

Come escape the world of wasteful worry

In ancient soil put to rest your pain

The storm it came without any warning

Blue sky turned grey and sun changed into rain

Across the island swept a grave mourning

The healthy died and able became lame

A paraide does not exsist on earth

Despite great beauty dwells with us a curse.

Isla Del Sol I-Cusco IV

3.12 Isla Del Sol I

Orange clouds sing against

a perfect purple back drop.

Then a crescent moon.

3.14 Isla Del Sol II

A mountain revealed

honored eyes behold her great

and secret marvel

A bull blocks my path

The mountain´s a sneaky thing

I arrive real wet

3.15.11 Cusco IV

In a sea of feet

I spot your shoes and squeal with

joy-A love rejoined.

La Paz XXVI

3.11.11

Board a bus and wave.

Myself and my suitcase are

fuller than ever!

-(traveling again :) )

The wind and her friends:

the flower and the cactus

In the end-just one.

-(afternoon storm on the steep slopes of La Paz, viewed from conglomerated rock.)

The sky watches us

and we watch this celestial

in mutual fear.

-(from a mountain climber)

La Paz XXIV-XXV

3.9.11

She wails-our ears close

I open my eyes and see

a shadow of tears.

3.10.11

La despedida:

La luna nos besa y

flores nos abrazan

La Paz XXIII

3.8.11

Morning birds sing as

the clock bell chimes. Without doubt

dawn is upon us.

Flowers dead speak of

resurrection. A large stone

reveals truth.

La Paz XVIII-XXII

3.7.11

A waltz in the sky

Come down from your star singing

and cloud strumming dreams.

3.6.11

I`m unlike a stone-

I fear. And door`s unanswered

and lights left turn off.

3.5.11

Tender blooms ravished

from a kind and humble earth

left alone and week.

3.4.11

Wail! the Saxophone

and the slender guitar, Sing!

but the trumpet cries.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!

La Paz XVII

3.3.11

The bridge between your

street and mine is full of haste

music and chocolate.

La Paz XVI

Illusions of smoke

in a very real breeze meet

my mind in between.

La Paz XIV-XV

2.28.11

Buildings turn to stone

through a day dreamer´s window

and roads into streams

3.1.11

From flowers and trees

to black ink and lined paper

And later a flame.

La Paz XII

2.27.11

She´s a flower that

leaps from the ground to greet the

sun for the first time.

More fotos de la playa (huanchaco)

La Paz VIII-XI

2.23.11

Rain taps at the window

like the keys on a piano

and I hum along.

2.24.11

Mountains watch over

a city trapped within a

lone restless valley

2.25.11

A moist chocolate cake

stays dry inside her display

outside dark grey skies.

2.26.11

Look! those two fools there

dancing in the rain-full of

joy and of red wine.

No stars nor no moon

the sun timidly wakes up

but the rain wont sleep.

La Paz VIII-X+

La Paz VIII-X+

La Paz VII

From a clear blue sky

fell a powerful rain. The

sun felt real confused.

La Paz VI

2.20.11

The endless motion

of clouds outside my window

mezmorize me.

How I love being so near to the sky!!

La Paz V

2.20.11

The smoke vanishes

Clock tower strikes violently

and I realize life.

A sunny Sunday

The clouds stayed high in the sky

we all ate ice cream!

La Paz 1

The valley fills with haze a monster winks

A puff of smoke he blows from his fine pipe

With his quick breaths red embers rise and sink

He thumps his tail and wonders ¨whats the hype?¨

Andean music dances with the fog

City lights flicker on as evening falls

The streets are filled with cars and thick brown smog

Take head my friend the sound of chaos calls.

¨The Peace¨ they call this crazy restless place

The sound of sirens never seem to end

The streets are steep yet people run with haste

The first of dawn appears and life begins

This gentle gaint´s something to be feared

More rotten than any places you´ve neared.

(Please forgive me the the iambic pentameter is not right on or the rhythms weak, I am new to the world of sonnets. It is a very exciting and beautiful world!)

La Paz IV

2.18.11

A city burns bright

the sun has long said goodnight

The moon shines delight.

A queen on her thrown

The full moon in the sky, she rules

Over the city.

The city bows down

to the moon in full glory

and the people rest.

La Paz III

2.17.11
Wide open window
sees a city on a hill.
And a fat coat rack.

La Paz II

Like a misty night
and a dark forest, sometimes its
hard to See clearly.

Like the suns strength and
solidness of granite, we
will get up again.


(check out: http://indulgentadventures.blogspot.com/2011/02/like-backcountry-ski-hut-but-for.html to see some photos of Hatun Machay!. This couple from Seatle are awesome and are ridding the moto-cycles all the way to Patagonia!)

La Paz I

2.15.11
A down ward spiral
into the heart of la paz
yo he llegado.

A window that peers
into an empty court yard
and a lean coat rack.

But the coat rack does not wobble. The celling is painted pink with a flower. There was no rain today and I felt confused. The sun was lovely and warmed me through and through. It is good to be back to the never sleeping city, a monster of a town, where everything is spiraling down and there is a mountain that is always watching me watch it and i wonder what it thinks about me and i know what i think about it, ¨hermoso!.

Photos from Huanchaco

Cusco I-III

2.12.11

I reach my hands up

As cumulus clouds pile

but cant quite touch em

Fiesta! Amor

vida musica, boda

y puta whisky.

2.13.11

Street lights flicker on

as do the stars in the sky

Then! Lightning flashes

The moon-a street lamp

How bright and gentle she burns

My feet reach the ground.

2.14.11

Yellow flowers shake

Long grass dances the tengo

as the storm blows in.

I am thankful for my time in Cusco, for my friends who married and are so happy, and even for the four angry dogs that surrounded me today and their sharp looking teeth and loud voices, more so thankful for their encounter I am thankful that they let me go alive and well. I miss mahli.

Huaraz III 2-9-11

Snow caped mountains sing
As dawn`s sun reflects from ice
to my ears and eyes

A beautiful fare well to huaraz

Hatun Machay I-III, Huaraz II

2.3.11

Sky burns with passion

my heart jumps from tired flesh

and frolics with joy.

Thick fog rolls over

green hills dotted with boulders

and consumes my soul.

Hidden in a place

where humming birds buzz and stone

proclaims Love´s beauty.

Sun Sets orange and blue

The forest of stone burns red

Wispy clouds escape.

2.4.11

Bloody fingers grip

sharp ancient stone, quick breaths then

Go! to a deep jug.

Brook mumbles softly

The birds chatter quietly

Wind whispers secrets.

2.5.11

A river runs from

a lush green valley to the

eternal sun set.

Tobacco and Tea

Warms my cold, tired body

after a great day!

2.8.11

The birds are singing

and I am wet to the bone

must be songs of rain.

Huanchaco VII, VIII-Huaraz I

1.30.11
Acrobats, clowns, kids
Candied apples, popcorn. The
circus leaves me sad.

After going to a small circus in the poor part of town my eyes were opened to why there seems to be so much machismo and sexism in Peru. Terrible.

1.31.11
The sun sinks into
the vast ocean, fairing well
to a lovely day.

Not all is ugly here, in fact, beauty surrounds!

2.1.11
He llegado hoy
Donde los montanas son
y mi corazón

Blown away by the distant alpine beauty.

Huanchaco III - Huanchaco VI

1.26.11
Furious waves crash
The deep black sea overwhelmed
afterwards: stillness

1.27.11
A small dusty room
A vault into ancient days
painted pots tell stories

Marveled eyes stare at
five balls in he air and he
knows there is a God

She plays guitar
to pulsing ocean rhythm
and quiet breeze

1.28.11
City underground
The past dug up and sentiments
brought to the living

1.30.11
Little feet scurry
Red orange hue covers the sand
I ask, ¨Whats the rush?¨

Fat dead sea lion
Two red-headed vultures sit
atop her smooth spine

Mar y arena
Sol y viento. Todo
tacan mi alma
(for Todd. I hope you and beth are doing very well!)

Lima IV, Huanchaco I, Hunchaco II

1.23.11
A lazy sunday
with hot cloudy skies outside
inside: food and cheer!

1.24.11
Waves pound the beach-drums!
And tumbling rocks allpaude
Crabs join claws and dance

Waves of change crash on
my soul like a sandy beach
and a shifting wind

1.25.11
Graceful pelicans
weave between clouds and blue sky
traveling together

The shy sunset hides
but her splender is reavled:
a soft purple hue

Lima III

Tear drops fall to form
an ocean in the bottom
of a Dreamer's well.

"Not all who cry are sad". I think I heard that somewhere. But I think this is more true, "Not all who don't cry are not sad" I said that right here. But then there are always smiles, real ones, the ones that come from the face of a grandfather gazing down on a seven month year old bundle of beauty! And tears come and the well swells and dreams are recognized.

River, Tear, Ocean.
Brook, stream, lake and emotion.
Children, life, motion.

The Preacher man seemed sure.

Lima II

I imagine that
somewhere out there is a tree
with leaves turning red.


Upon contemplating the imagination's pupil I was gladden with the realization that I can be anywhere I have already been or can contrive in my head :)

This is not to say I am not happy where I am, but with a sore ankle and no where to be this is my second day in a row indoors. I think this is the longest I have ever gone without going out doors.

Lima I

Tears wiped and cries hushed
warm milk from generous breasts
calmness overtakes

Smile spreads across
a mother's weary face, as
her baby nurses.

Hot, humid, dust, and
a never fleeting smog but
inside we forget.

Introduction

Haiku is a short Japanese poem. It consists of 17 syllables: 5 in the first line, 7 in the second line and 5 in the last line. Haiku generally has a seasonal reference admits it's content. I am so fascinated with Haiku because of their simplicity and connection with nature. It is a liberating feeling to express a grand idea (which all ideas are) in a few words. This is how I hope to capture my travels in Peru and Bolivia these next couple of months. To understand Haiku in more detail visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku, but please know the poetry I attempt to make will not follow these rules to their fullest. Also at times when I am not able to confine my thoughts, emotions, and observations to 17 syllables it is the opposite of liberating, and can be very frustrating, therefore this blog may very well be scattered with ramble.

I look foward to hearing your Haiku and thoughts!

With love.