Mary Oliver - First Days in San Miguel de Allende lyrics

1. The flagellated Christ is being carried to San Miguel de Allende He must be very heavy yet the carriers persist upon the sun flashed road and the people follow in the same way that people would seek a river heard of but never yet found. They are that thirsty. 2. In the garden the jacaranda is dropping its blue festivities everywhere, the wren is carrying sticks into the hollow behind the elbow of the metal horse that stands in the bougainvillea at the edge of the singing pool. I have come, for the first time, to Mexico. And what has happened to that intense ambition with which I always awake? Soaked up in the colors, stolen by the bloody Christs of the churches, by the children laughing at my meager Spanish. It is said that when you rent a house here the owners are not responsible for church bells, barking dogs, or firecrackers. It is early in the morning. Antonio is sweeping the blossoms away. I am feeling something, incredibly, like peace. The wren is busy, my pencil idle. The silks of the jacaranda, as though it is the most important work in the world, keep falling. 3. The tops of the northbound trains are dangerous. Still, they are heaped with hopefuls. I understand their necessity. Understanding, however, is not sharing. Oh let there be a wedding of the mind and the heart, if not today then soon. Meanwhile, let me change my own life into something better. Meanwhile, on the streets of San Miguel de Allende it is easy to smile. " Hola," I say to the children. "Hi," they say, as I pa** with my pa**port, and money, in my pocket.