I
sat
breathless
on buses
as they played the Panamericana!
Through irrigated fields
across desert dust bowls
I
sat
breathless!

My feet
twitching
My toes
feeling my toes
My hand
pushing away
the hairy arm of the hairy man
sat
sleeping
on my
unhairy shoulder.

In the dead of night
On frozen buses

I
sat
breathless!

In the darkness
and in the light
While eating
While drinking
While talking,
not talking
Walking,
not walking
Smiling,
not smiling

I
was
breathless!

In Cotahuasi,
in Colca
In the cold,
in the heat
With alpacas,
with condors
With the terraces
beneath
my
feet
or across
rock-
strewn
landscapes

I
was
breathless!


---Jib, September 2000