Antigua | A Poem

Roads that resemble the ruins all around you Exterior walls that span entire blocks, Hiding tiny tiendas and expansive restaurants A market overflowing with delicious produce, Substancial sacks of spices, Totally authentic Nike sneakers, And handmade treasures All for “a special price just for you, almost free” Cars, trucks, tuks tuks, and motos Serving and stopping and parking anywhere they please With a push of a button the flashers come on And the entire lane of the street Becomes your very own private parking spot Buses retired from hauling kids to and from school, Become ex-pats with fresh paint jobs, Kings of the calle, Brilliant colors barreling down the road, Horn blazing with religious AND racy stickers Slapped next to each other on the back Get off quick because Esmeralda doesn’t stop to let you off, She just keeps rolling ever on So the next time you think the street is too narrow To accommodate cars traversing in both directions, Watch as the chicken buses choke up the road And somehow keep continuing on

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This is a poem I wrote about the city I have lived in for 9 months now. Antigua, Guatemala. I'll explain some things in the poem because if you've never been to Antigua it won't make much sense. Antigua is a world heritage site so inside the city the roads are still cobblestone and must remain so. They look cool but make for one heck of a bumpy and slow ride. A "tienda" is a small convenience store where you can buy the same kinds of things found in a gas station mini mart in the states. A tuk tuk is like a tiny taxi that can take a few people at a time around the city. It's pretty much a motorcycle with a covered bench behind it. Everyone in Antigua parks in the road when they have a quick errand to run inside of a store because there is no-where else to park if you just need to stop in real quick. So you just put your flashers on and everyone drives around you. There is just barely enough room, and many a side mirror gets smacked. People drive American school buses from the states down here, paint them with bright colors and name them. They're everywhere and they choke up the already narrow streets. It is crazy. It's a beautiful city. I hope I've captured just a little of what it is like.