Painting Lilies

I ate a chocolate bar as the rain fell on Tertulia marble. Tiny lilies painting tundra. A man wearing garbage looking intensely at his own reflection, brushing his hair with an incense stick. In the corner a cry-baby-family supplies collective hush before rush to car. Friends on pot. All of it under a cool grey sky cut up by the sharp roof slant of theater.  

I hang here for a while, under archway eating my chocolate bar. Luka and them are supposed to join, but as far as rain and people are concerned here in Cali, both are a bit unpredictable. The only object of permanence here is the past. The skate in socks and Thursday night graffiti club, the fósforos mojados and handy-cam hit parade.  One night here a boy made me a sticker. It’s the most precious gift I received here to date. 

And as I think on about all this past I am drizzle dusted. And more still by sound of river’s roar blending with cars en masse; all to create the most beautiful humane hum of move.  

It’ll be a matter of hours until my flight out. Leaving Cali for Mexico leaves me with a certain joyful sadness. To feel sad in a weird city can be quite liberating ya know, if you can accept that sort of happy circle. I typically don’t. I’m down here typing away all like: did I do what I set out here to do? How does one set out to do anything in a place like Cali? There is nothing here by its very nature.  But sure is a lovely concrete jungle to bath in for a while. Is there a more lovely time to eat a chocolate bar than while it’s raining in Cali?

Francis
Cali, Diciembre 2022