Costa Maya

At Costa Maya, in the Yucatan,
we walked the yellow jetty from the ship,
with throngs of other visitors, to see
a tacky shoppers’ mecca, with a mall,
a plaza, palm trees, piles of souvenirs,

sweet alcoholic drinks, and, for the ill,
a pharmacy with drugs at cut-rate price.
We wandered in the crowd, just glancing here
and there, not getting money out, but keen
to hear the language we had studied, girls

together. Cries and jostling drew our eye,
with “Ah!” and “Oh” and clapping. Flying men,
it was, in harnesses and tethered to a pole,
who, forced centrifugally outward, spun
somehow in beautiful formation—birds

dispersing in a round, but still a flock,
pursuing one another. “Ah” and “Oh”
again! We stood, admiring, then strolled back
along the pier, all sunny, spirits high
in friendship. So ephemeral, so light,

against the pull of gravity, of death!
Now you are gone; disease surprised you, quick,
a knife. I picture you among the fronds
of heaven, upraised, no harness, no trapeze,
but planing gently in the azure, free.

Catharine Savage Brosman

Image by davidpinter, licensed via Creative Commons. Image cropped. 

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Ralph Lauren, American Patriot

Isabella Redjai

On January 4, President Joe Biden honored nineteen individuals with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.…

The Mercurial Bob Dylan

Eddie Larow

There’s a version of Bob Dylan for everyone: small-town boy from Duluth, Minnesota; scrappy folk troubadour of…

Theater of the Divine

Mark Bauerlein

The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Peter Kreeft joins in…