There is no place that dominates me
No conglomerate of proud, soggy mangrove; no luminary mine of glass cenote
No facetious brickwork streets tread on
by the sandals of tourists
Nor the lifeguard shanties that rest
by the sea
Like a giddy schoolgirl, I am enraptured
by the sprinklings
Of Salt and Pepper people
Here and there; grains of the tithing sand that are in this
Transient place, still, after the tides have come and gone.
Sweat of this earth mars their brow,
and they wear it like a soft badge
Not with pride or pale pallor, but
with purpose
As they labor day in day out, bear children, and die
Like a loyal soldier, never recognized
for their toil
Never distinguished from the masses
as they lead ordinary lives
Extraordinarily.