Puerto Rico 2023

All Poems, Art/Arts, Farewell, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

No One Was Ready to Leave

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No one was ready to leave San Juan.

Warm, balmy weather.

Chirping grackles, darting lizards.

Tropical bottlebrush blossoms, towering fig trees.

Pool, beach, fortresses, street art.

To fly back to wintry Philadelphia.

Shivering  teeth, toes on the jet way.

Sun setting through airport windows.

Broken people movers on the path to baggage claim.

But once downstairs, lured by Celestial Balldergarten.

Seven-foot audio kinetic sculpture by George Rhoads.

Whimsical exhibition of spiraling ramps, balls.

Loup-the-loups.

Musical sounds.

Bells, chimes, tones.

Bright colors.

A gray ball inching forward.

Activating a lever that puts color into motion.

Who could be glum?

Watching a bright monumental mechanism?

A transparent machine?

That sings and moves?

Performing maneuvers that seem random?

Mr. Rhoads, we thank you

for your dramatic art!

Lifting melancholy spirits

with each dynamic part.

 

Lynn Benjamin and Elias Modell

February 28, 2023

 

 

All Poems, Love, Memories, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Last Morning on Calle Italia

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Usually when I part from a place, I miss its charms.
Here in Puerto Rico, the coconut and date palms.
Wild tamarind and flamboyant trees.
Sea almonds and crepe jasmines.
Hibiscus and yellow trumpet flowers.
Blooming queen of thorns.
Doves, grackles, tanagers.
Stray cats of every color.
Crabs and lizards.
Warm breezes and sun.
Yunque and fortresses.
Street paintings and sculptures.
But what I’ll miss more are long hours with Elias.
Watching him explore.
Jungles, castles, gardens.
Trying new foods.
Whole fried snapper, plantains, stuffed avocados.
Succeeding in getting a kite into the air.
Discovering hidden beauty.
In nature and in art.
The touch-me-not fern, the Todos Somos Flores mural.
Listening to sounds of wildlife.
Coquís, doves, roosters.
Crossing streets, his small hand in mine.
Answering a hundred questions.
What’s in a piña colada?
What does no fume mean?
What’s a tinglar?
Honoring his excitement, enthusiasm.
Pride at showing me how he codes.
How he writes.
Telling me he has lots of ideas.
Just needs paper, pencil.
Which I pull out from my pocket.
A thousand conversations.
At the beach, botanical gardens.
On walks in old San Juan.
Over meals.
The kind of joie de vivre that lights you up.
Travels in both directions.
Making him older, wiser,
Me, younger, more alive.
So, if you were to ask me
what I’ll miss most,
it’s the time with Elias.
Just being close.

Lynn Benjamin
February 26, 2023

 

I gave Elias paper and a pencil from my pocket for him to write a poem. This is the pocket poem he wrote:

Memories

 

The trip to Puerto Rico is about to end.

But memories don’t.

Swimming.

Eating fish.

Walking on the beach.

Learning Spanish.

Jumping in rivers.

Hiking on mountains.

It’s like what Dr. Seuss said:

Don’t cry cause it’s over.

Smile cause it happened.

 

Elias Modell

February 24, 2023

All Poems, Family, Grandchildren, Love, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Swimming

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I am not a person who enjoys water sports.

Swimming.

Scuba diving.

Surfing.

Though I do own a bathing suit.

Which I brought to Puerto Rico.

In case the exceptional moment arose.

That I might don it.

The weather has been glorious.

So, I put the swim skirt on to walk the beach.

Let the waves spray my legs.

Wet the hem of the outfit.

Practicing.

Each day in the sun.

Readying for the finale.

On the day before our flight home.

To jump into the pool.

With Elias.

A veritable fish in water.

Who enticed me to join him.

As he splashed.

Swam every stroke imaginable.

Finally offered me a floating chair.

Which I accepted.

After inching into the water.

A rare event.

On a rare occasion.

Carrying on a private conversation.

In a private pool.

I hope Elias understands

I bathed for love of him.

It was not a random act.

Not done on simple whim.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 26, 2023

 

All Poems, Beaches, Family, Grandchildren, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

The Beach at Ocean Park

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Elias looked at me and said,

I challenge you to write about this beach!

As if I couldn’t.

Or maybe because he wanted a verbal snapshot.

To remember it.

He dared me as he skipped along.

Heading with his grandpop and me toward the end.

Passing volleyball courts.

Dog walkers throwing sticks to pets.

Another occasional walker.

The goal to see algae covered rocks at sunset.

How they block the ocean’s waves.

To make warm tide pools.

Swimming holes for fishes.

Tunnels.

Waterfalls.

The walk got more beautiful with each step.

As the clouds turned blue and pink.

Palm trees swayed.

Yellow seaweed piles swelled.

Each time a wave washed over them.

Elias reached the rocks first.

Jumped into the small pools.

Studied the fish.

Agreed this was a special spot.

To exercise each sense.

Smell and taste of salt.

Sensations on the feet.

Wet, slippery, sandy.

Roar of surf against the shore.

Visual panorama.

Blue green water beneath a drowsy sun.

Elias was right.

The scene deserved a writer.

To put it into words.

If I lived in Ocean Park

you’d find me by a rock.

At the bend near the end,

just dreaming, taking stock.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 25, 2023

All Poems, Animals/Insects, For Children, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Puerto Rican Tanager

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It’s unfair the way some people put down birds.

Characterizing a person who makes a mistake as a bird brain.

For birds can be quite intelligent.

Especially when it comes to survival.

Protection of young.

Like the tanager of Puerto Rico.

Small brown bird with loud voice.

Sometimes called llorosa for its cries.

Chi, chi, chit! Chi, chi, chit!

We met two tanager mates.

Just the other day in Ocean Park.

Outside on our street.

After Bob spotted their nest.

In a cactus plant!

The hatchlings poking out a day later.

Little beaks searching for food.

Safe and snug in their straw.

Swaddled in cactus thorns.

All predators withdraw!

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 24, 2023

 

All Poems, Art/Arts, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Street Art

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Street art arouses you.

Maybe to some idea.

Floating in your consciousness.

Or just beneath.

Some wisdom you’ve forgotten.

But recapture.

A seed pod.

Transported by wind.

Spinning into your hand.

Surprising you.

Unannounced.

Like each mural in Santurce.

One after another.

Connecting with something inside you.

Some universal sensibility.

That would have gone unnoticed.

Had you not seen it.

Paused to examine it.

Appreciated the time.

Labor.

Love.

That the artist put into finding you.

Communing.

Sentiments I felt today in Santurce.

And toward the mural on my own corner.

The intersection of Calles Santa Ana and Italia.

In Ocean Park.

Both art and print.

Street art to look at and read.

On a wall that bends.

Flows.

Lends itself to solitary contemplation.

Or companionship.

With a child.

A lover.

A friend.

Angel López @esagente_pr reminds you we start as seeds.

Exhorts you to find your place.

To bloom.

Tantalizes the senses with art and rhyme.

An artistic spell

that engrosses your gaze.

Pass by it again.

It proceeds to amaze.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 24, 2023

 

 

All Poems, Family, Food, Grandchildren, National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Wow to a Hard Banana

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I never thought I’d be saying “wow” to a hard banana, said Elias.

At El Punto, a restaurant in old San Juan.

With typical Puerto Rican food.

He couldn’t believe his luck.

A plateful of tostones, rice, beans, avocado.

And breaded fileted grouper.

Which he devoured.

After a morning darting in and out of tunnels.

At San Cristóbal.

Fortress built centuries ago to protect the land.

With levels to climb, explore.

Then a walk past La Perla neighborhood.

Back to el Morro.

To entice Grandpop onto a trail.

Behind the castle.

After a descent into a dry moat.

Elias earned his supper

after scooting around town.

In and out of citadels

on many a battleground.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 23, 2023

All Poems, Family, Grandchildren, Natural Beauty, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

El Yunque

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El Yunque is a rain forest in Puerto Rico.

Around a great mountain.

Covered in clouds.

Called White Earth by the Taínos.

Who prayed to Yokahu.

El Yunque is home to coquís.

Song birds, insects.

Vines, bamboos, ferns.

Rocks, rivers, waterfalls.

Muddy trails.

Like the one we took to the water.

Where Bob and I parted from Elias.

Who continued the climb to a water slide.

In life vest and helmet.

With two guides.

One in front.

One in back.

Left only with imagination

as he darted higher yet.

Warning us with serious face

that he’d return soaking wet.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 23, 2023

 

All Poems, Family, Grandchildren, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Chiringas (Kites), Part II

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How many people get to fly kites for the first time at El Morro?

This world renowned green arena?

In his good fortune, Elias had that chance.

To purchase a kite at the castle.

Set about lifting it into the breeze.

With his grandfather as co-pilot.

After assembly, he did just that.

Into the wind.

Against the wind.

Forwards.

Backwards.

Till the kite caught air currents.

Flew for a few minutes.

Before spinning downward.

So, home we returned.

Kite in hand.

To try the next day.

At the local beach.

After three short YouTube videos.

Lessons on lift and drag.

There, among bathers, the kite ascended in seconds.

As though waiting for this opportunity.

Elias smiled.

Then laughed.

This is a surprise, he called through giggles.

Gripping the tether.

Watching his kite individuate.

Declare independence from its parent.

Security in a string.

Triumph!

Success!

Victory!

The sweetest moment yet to emerge.

When a young father said he observed

the joyful kite beach scene unfold.

Couldn’t wait to do the same

with his newborn as years unrolled.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 22, 2023

 

All Poems, Gardens, Puerto Rico 2023, Trips and Places

Botanical Gardens

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The Botanical Gardens of San Juan are at the University.

On a holiday, it’s quiet.

No employees

No hustle, no bustle.

Just a few wanderers over many acres.

Once inside, keep your eyes wide.

For a lake teeming with turtles.

Ducks with red faces.

High brush full of snakes, lizards.

And flowering red ginger, African tulips.

Birds of paradise.

Not to mention date palms, royal palms, figs.

Though hurricanes destroyed signage,

walloped scenic parks,

the tropics has a will to live.

To sprout again landmarks.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 22, 2023