A Face, A Smile
1999

I was taking a bus to a small place 
   south a town on the Mexican west coast,
it was just like I love my dreams to be like
do you know how I dream a perfect day to be like?
listen.
it has to be warm. It was warm
it has to be maybe even hot, it was hot
I have to have time
no work, just time
I want the sun to shine
I want to just go out and explore the basic things, 
   nothing fancy, certainly not something man-made 
   like Disneyworld, or an amusemente park, 
   no none of that
more like a little forest
or like a little cove
so, I didn't know what I was looking for
I just thought if I look for something 
   - which I don't know what it is - 
   I will find something
first the search and the knowing what I was looking for
in this case I just went south
and I got off the bus at a place that 
   seemed close to a small little beach
it was just 30 min away from town 
   so I thought it would be crowded
but just a few locals were here
no tourists, no nothing
nobody cared, and it sure looked like 
   everybody had an infinite amount of time
I just sat down on the beach
actually I like shade too
I cannot just lie down and work on my sun-tan,
don't know, but I can't just lie on the beach, 
   it bores me; so I prefer to sit
on the beach, in the shadow of something, 
   preferably a palmtree or a rock
I was watching the people
I was watching the waves
I was watching the sun
I was watching the sky
the clouds
so many things to see
so much patience
so relaxing
pelicans were circling in the air
it was amazing
I had seen them before in Florida 
but it was just nice to see them play so freely
like we are still in the 1930s
it was a joy to watch, actually more than watch, 
   I should say "study",
yes I "studied" the pelicans fish, 
they circle, then the dive deep into the water
swallow the fish. 
float for a few seconds on the surface and 
   then they take off again with a lot of effort
anyway I was just letting my eyes do the wandering
fisherman did the same as the pelicans, 
   they were -- you guessed it -- fishing
next to the beach they had started a fire 
and the prepared the fish over the open flames
smelled like a good lunch to me, 
I just enjoyed the smells as 
   another dimension of the experience
I wasn't hungry
I was content
then this child, a girl
maybe 8 years old
mexican, local
came up to me with a stick and a bit of fish on it 
she was just having on her lunch I think
without me saying anything she walked right to me
and offered me a bite
she didn't say a word
but her eyes were talking to me
I felt very moved 
the kid had the ability to talk to me 
   and send me message 
   without saying a single word to me
she smiled and the smile was talking as well
I was intensly happy this moment
this was a gift money cannot buy 
one of the things that fall into the category 
   "the best things in life are free"
it was a spark, a bright light, a capturing 
it sure was one memory that still talks to me