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Jericocoara is a magical place!

I want you to think of the words in this poem, written about Jeri, and while you are in that "space" in your mind, think of all the other places that are being changed and/or destroyed by Man!

Jericoacoara: A Love Story

© Thomas R. Farrell 2006

Shall I tell you
Why the tourist come?
For those of you who haven’t been:
It’s less obvious, I’m sure.

The turtles knew
Why they chose
To dig their holes
And lay their eggs
In these soft sand,
Ten million years ago…

They listened to the Splendor of their God
Who drew their maps
And set them on their course
Through underwater currents
Across the coral reefs:
To find their perfect spot
To lay their eggs upon


But today
It is so much more
Than those turtles in the sand
Or of the older people here
Who had always owned the land
And who knew and fished these waters…

Until the “other turtles” came
To try to take from them
What God had always known --
Was not for strangers to possess.

For this other set of turtles
Now, with backpacks, as their shells
Play in water freely, in surf and on their boards
And in the winds --with parachutes and strings
Or on multi-colored sailing boats
To be rented for a price
For sailing or for fishing,
But only for a while…


And this second set of “turtles”
Who are better known
as tourists on the beach,
Are given many rules
To be followed -- to the law:
About the what’s and wherefores
Of things that are allowed
And things their country tells them
They may never, ever do.

Since the country wants to keep
This beach of theirs -- undefiled ever more
With her dazzling ocean views
And those gorgeous dunes of sand,
So beautifully preserved.


And just as man will fall in love
With something he can’t have
And knows he has no chance
To buy what isn’t his to own,

Many of the tourist, now
When it’s time for them to leave
Often ask for maybe just --
one more day to play, within the sun
One more wind or one more surf …
Before -- going on their way…
But eventually -- there comes a time
When schedules check their clock
And sometimes very sadly
They leave their paradise.

Oh! There is something of her beauty
That everyone who comes
Wants to stake a claim of ownership
For a piece of vacant land
But all the “turtles” knew
When they traveled to this place
There are rules in place against them
Ever burying their eggs

Now the tourist came for respite
And for the beauty of the place
And hadn’t quite expected
Surprises by the shore.

But many, if you ask them,
Will tell you -- should you care,
That there was a time -- when they were there
(Quite often by the shore -- )
They felt a certain Spirit-- present, in the air
:
When suddenly their eyes and heart
Felt something there within,
-- In the pounding of the waves,
-- In the misting of the wind,
-- In the warming of the sun
-- And in the chanting of the gulls…

And some will tell you simply,
They are certain, it was Him
They caught a glimpse of Majesty
Just looking back at them.

And shall I tell you why God comes?

For those of you -- who have been there
It’s quite obvious, I’m sure!

© Thomas R. Farrell 2006


 

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