A Toast to Poetry and Wine

A toast to poetry and wine,

To friendship and love

All get better with age.

Depth is their virtue,

Maturity their sage.

Quito Dusk

A confetti of lights

Sprinkled over cement.

Bricks towering loftily,

Pointed rooftops, crouching shingles.

Cars honking, wheels spinning

Burning rubber.

Trucks backfire; shot gun pellets.

Squealing children

Scream after the green pelota.

Dogs barking, rooster crows,

Heals click, people move,

Thinking of home.

Conversations ramble through the streets.

An enormous bird flying steadily,

Through hazy, gray pink clouds.

Saeta roars in for a landing.

Business workers

Clad in gold buttoned blue suits,

March past one lone man,

Huddled under a stained poncho,

Sitting on the cold pavement

Surveying the horizon.

A canopy of eucalyptus trees

Wrapping the hills,

Cayambe blanketed by snow

Reflects a faint glimmer of fire

East of the descending sun.