I flew to Cuba one fall day some years after moving into my loft. There was a young woman giving out towels by the pool. She told me about her boyfriend who was in Florida and how much she missed him. I told her that I would write her a poem that she could translate into Spanish and send to him. I discovered that I could put myself in someone else’s shoes and almost know what they were feeling.
Me and You
Me and You we taste the same salty waters we feel the warm ocean breeze we gaze into the endless sky stars sparkling all around us
Me and you so close in my mind, so far in my heart the vast ocean between us I lie on the sandy beach of Cuba and all my thoughts float to you over the waves, onto your shores
At night every star reminds me of the sparkle in your eye I gaze into the endless sky but all I see is you oh, what I would do to swim to your shores
The leaves on the palm trees dance in the wind and I close my soft eyes and for a moment I am swaying in your arms and in that moment, there is no tomorrow
One day, just before dusk near the end of my trip, I sat on my porch and the whole scene just unfolded…
Cuban Night
A gentle ocean breeze water spout in a fountain soft music kids and parents playing ball in the calm pool
palm trees swaying grey, white, pink clouds
beyond the pool through the trees the vast ocean moves
This whole scene unfolds like a picture
from my balcony I watch
the blue sky above the clouds will soon be penetrated by the first faint star and night will soon be here A warm, friendly, Cuban night
Not realizing I needed $20 U.S. for an exit tax, I had spent all my money. I had become friends with a couple who were on their honeymoon so I wrote them a poem for their honeymoon and they paid for my exit from Cuba.