March 15, 2012
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No Helmet
He always makes me wear one. It boxes my head in
Separated from the beauty and life around me
My head bobbles
The strap cuts my chin
Knocking against the corners of my head
That do not fit the contours
Open the flap, let in some breeze
The sweat has gathered
Snap it shut again
When the dust is stirred
On the highway
It gives the illusion of protection
Even though I know one slip from the driver and I am dead
I imagine my leg in a tree
Like he said he saw after an accident
But on the back roads
When there is no helmet to be had
Freedom
I play the cowgirl as I swing my leg over the seat
The engine roars before I have a firm grasp on his shoulder
I love the sound of wind
Brushing past my ears
With no apologies
Flying through nature
The green that only tropics have
The blue that belongs to Brazil
The 4:30pm sun that doesn’t burn
Leaves a haze over the sugarcane fields
I slide uncomfortably close to the driver downhill
Try to reposition without being awkward
The stones make my teeth chatter
The view makes my heart hurt
“I’m the lucky one”
I whisper to myself
And hope the feeling will never grow old
The bridge runs just over the river
It will be flooded in rainy season
But for now it gives a perfect view of purple flowers
Growing in green weeds
That cover the dark ripples of water
He says those plants only grow in polluted water
The goat on the bank doesn’t mind
I turn my head and squeeze my eyes
To hide from the dust blowing at us
The red dirt leaves a residue on my skin
It was a good day with 29 children
Who learned how to say “Thank you”
And listened to my fractured reading of “The Giving Tree”
In Portuguese
This morning was six little kids wanting two scooters
My practical lesson for the character quality of the week: Generosity
It ended with four crying children and two scooting around happily
Sigh
I hope it is an easier character quality next week
I look down at my foot with the black line of dirt where my sandal was
My nose burnt even with SPF 30
Tired but happy
I wish I could put it on paper
The way it really is
Instead of random lines of words
That I try to tie together into a sentence
