Greetings from Palm Desert, California, to poet friends from all over this planet we call home. This is Victoria Slotto, excited to introduce fellow poet-pubster, Pamela Sayers who will host this evening. Many of you have encountered this talented lady who lives in the beautiful country of Mexico and whose verse so often invites us to travel there for a visit with her. Today, she will tell you a bit more about herself and her adopted home, and encourage you to reciprocate. Fasten your seat belts and put your laptops in an upright, ready-to-use position!

Buenas tardes, my name is Pamela, some of you may know me as the woman who
lives in and writes about Mexico. Some background on how I ended up moving here:

One day almost 12 years ago my husband sold our house, and we packed up our belongings and got in the car to head south of the border. Since my grown and only daughter had recently gotten married, and I virtually had no major commitments, I thought: “Why not.”

Well, it was a culture shock the first few years, everything was completely different than what I was accustomed to. People were more open, the food was amazing, and family and friends were what mattered most. We lived in Oaxaca for the first six years, which became a source of writing inspiration, but not until we moved to this wonderful city of Puebla did I truly come to appreciate the diversity of this land. We live at an elevation of over 7, 000 feet, where bougainvillea bloom year-round, guarded over by an active, smoking volcano nicknamed Don Goyo; his real name, Popocatépetl, comes from the Nahuatl words popōca ‘it smokes’ and tepētl ‘mountain’, meaning Smoking Mountain — and when he starts spewing fire the people here laugh and say he is angry.

Needless to say, this place, which I now call home, has become a great source of writing material for me, as there is usually not a day that goes by where I don’t notice something beautiful and awe-inspiring. The food here is a cultural smorgasbord with varieties ranging from traditional Poblano to Italian, Brazilian, Argentinean, French, Chinese and Japanese. No lack of finding something delicious to eat.

So all of this leads us to the poetic prompt for today. I would like you to write about where you live, tell us how it makes you feel, what the food is like, what the people are like.  You get the idea.

I am looking forward to reading everyone’s contribution. I would also like to extend a great big thank you to the dVerse family for inviting me to present this prompt.

Saludos,
Pamela

Here’s one of my poems inspired by life in Oaxaca:

The Lure of Beauty

Terra cotta tiled roofs descend into view,
wasted white on an egg-yolked sun

rising on homes, carrying tales of bells
with distinct rings; I turn my back
so death won’t take my soul … like those

old abandoned buses lying in a caressing,
cold crevasse, watched over by

a stream of crosses resurrected on
mountainsides, playing tag as you pass by

El Diablo sinking his limbs and horns into red clay,
ready to give a slight nudge into
unforgiving, but loving arms of trees

When no-one wants to claim you, only to
keep you as a trophy for their lost day,

landscapes can embody space, giving
it life, a personality.

Process Notes:

Excerpt from Diario Despertar de Oaxaca
El “Espinazo del Diablo”, leyenda mixteca:

Indeed, they found the wounded dying, and a bus turned over the precipice, over three thousand meters, with more than 30 people dead and at least two seriously injured, who testified that a beautiful woman with long hair made the driver stop and caused him distress. Thus began the accident in the “Devil’s Backbone,” unquantifiable in all forms. You can still see the remains of some buses overturned and traces of where they tried to cross the road to inform people and Mixtec communities.

On top of the hill is a chapel of the Virgen de Guadalupe, there are pictures of the Virgin of Juquila and a number of crosses, witnessing the misfortunes that occurred in the “Devil’s Backbone.”

Thank you, Pamela. I hope many of you will join us in these world-wide travels. To Participate:

• Write your poems and post it on your blog or website;
• Access Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post;
• Fill in your name and copy and paste the direct URL to your poem in the spaces indicated;
• Come on back to the pub (I hear Pamela has pitchers of Margaritas at the ready) visit and comment on as many poems as you can, and enjoy.

Photo Credits:

1. El Santuario de los Remedios by photographer Cristobal Garcia Ferro
2. Puebla in the early 1900’s by Puebla Antigua
3. Las Portales – wiki commons
4. Talavera Shop – wiki commons