Caleta San Juanico

February 24, 2014

Caleta San Juanico is a large and beautiful bay with a bunch of crazy rock formations scattered through it. It is remote in that there is no village here. A few grand houses sit on the hill. There are two campers on the beach and five boats in the anchorage. There is no one else around.

We took our kayaks on shore and went for a long walk in search of Apace Tears. An Apace Tear, otherwise known as obsidian, is a black rock that was formed from volcanic lava. This is the scientific explanation. However, legend tells us a different story. In this version, the Apache Tear was born out of deep sadness. When the Apace warriors were losing the battle to the US Calvary in Arizona in the late nineteenth century, they would rather jump to their deaths than be caught. Many did just that. The grief of the families was so great that with each tear they shed, it turned to stone. Now, those of us who carry an Apache Tear will never weep again as the Apaches have shed their tears in place of ours.

In memory of those warriors, we found lots of little tears lying along the road.

Alongside the beach, is a cruiser’s tree. As cruisers pass this way, they leave personal articles on the tree. Most are hand-made with their name and dates inscribed. Pieces of wood, decorated with shells or momentos from their boats like a wine bottle or flip flops hang from the trees. There is even a toilet seat cover with “Guess Who” written on it. (That sounds like something my brother, Jack, would do. Maybe he is here in spirit, after all.) And some write poems.

I have been writing poetry since I was a child, so Jay suggested I write one to add to the tree. Once written, we put it in a plastic covering with our boat card attached, and hung it from a branch. The following is our addition to the cruiser’s tree, sitting on the beach at Caleta San Juanico.

Love Finds Us

Love finds us here
in Caleta San Juanico.
Drifting on a reflected sky
dodging jagged rocks
protruding from the sea, tall,
Proud
protecting the cove.
Our army of soldiers.

Voices beckon,
Bien, mi amore. Bienvenidos,
Soaring by on angels wings,
they echo through the sea caves.
Shattered, our hearts rise
into a vortex of soft light,
gently healing
the weariness of the world.
Silently,
we become one
together.

The sun falls
behind the mountains
in shades of purple and pink.
In trunk-like form
the east clouds dip.
An elefante is born
lulling us into
slumber
on the crests of waves
as they break along the shore.

We sleep
peacefully
beneath one thousand wishes
intertwined as lovers do
together.

A flicker of light
enters the porthole,
dances on the bed.
The dawn awakens us
to hunt for new dreams
amongst the ruins
of our ancestors’ past.

Love finds us here
mi amore, in Caleta San Juanico.
Take my hand
and let us wander through our future
together.