Poetry

Golfo Dulce

A poem lovingly dedicated to my dear friend Dr. F Lynn Carpenter

Nestled newborns lie shyly, poking their heads through the warm soil As the gringa who birthed them inspects their vigor She wants them to join the other six thousand of her babies, already to her thigh, Rise up Build a forest among the ruins

The blistered, muddied hands groping a walking stick, slip-sliding Trudging the shrouded, misty mountains of Golfo Dulce, waltzing up the Cortez Amarillo Scatting away wild parakeets as they beat their sturdy wings in front of her eyes Look down Build a forest among the ruins

Hawks once soared over La Tierra Triste, a raped and devoured land Ugliness. Massacred and poisoned, scorched and flooded Her tired and worn heart, broken by barren land and empty bellies In need Build a forest among the ruins

Hawaiian Honeycreepers 5,000 miles away must await her gentle return As she initiates into this congregation of wildness Her earthly possessions, now a lingering vigil over Coto Brus, draining resources For more heavenly pursuits, cattle pastures, coffee fields, the promise of renewal Rise up Build a forest among the ruins

Now beauty exists where there once was none A legacy of love and conscience, a generosity of human spirit to behold Others, hands in pocket, clucked their tongues as she stood in exhaustion, fulfilled Overlooking a paradise created while she was slowly dying Remember Build a forest among the ruins

Vanished from the mortal realm, a world surpassing the one she had found Her essence diffuses upon the trees, hawks, Honeycreepers, and misty mountains A God that so fiercely held her faith joins the overwatch of Golfo Dulce At His side, pleased with the panoramic landscape and hazy thoughts of worldly things Eternal She lived and built a forest among the ruins

© Mona S Gable All rights reserved

This poem is a remembrance dedicated to my dear friend, Dr. F Lynn Carpenter. Lynn was a beautiful soul, a brilliant woman, and biologist who served on the faculty of The University of California, Irvine. By starting her own non-profit and utilizing a good deal of personal resources and efforts, she achieved in the revitalization of Golfo Dulce, located in the Costa Rican rainforest. She left this earth a more prosperous, more beautiful place than she found it. I will miss her greatly and enjoyed her friendship beyond measure — especially our discussions of books and our mutual love of nature and Indian food.

May she rest well.

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