We deplane into a moist, hot exhalation
A breath in the face
On the arms and legs
Clinging to clothes
Coating luggage, cameras and phones
It is the breath of the leaf cutter ants
Long lines forming through and over and under grasses
Down tree trunks and beneath anchoring roots
Trimming, shaping, reforming the rain forest
Creating pathways for light
It is the growl of the male howler monkey
Defending his turf and family
Rattling limbs and shaking leaves, evidence of his overhead passage
Growls not howls despite the name
More of a lion than an ape
Roar resounding
Over, under, through the canopy
It is the splashing of four river otters
Larger and more lonely than their oceanic cousins
Sighing for their brothers and sisters whose time has passed
Slipping under and through and over the dark waters of Lake Sandoval
It is the twig luring the chicken tarantula
From its underground nest
The pink toes of the palm tree tarantula
The webs spun across open space
An ecosystem in a single tree
Where scorpions and spiders, ants, birds and mammals slide
Under, over, around and through palm fronds
And into the crown of berries
Superfood that brings down the whole
It is the scampering of squirrel monkeys
Leaping from branches beside our heads
Hanging by curling tails that do not release
Even in death
Racing along unfinished walkways
Balancing on slender cables
Surrounding us in a rustling of leaves
Shimmering of branches
And tangle of limbs
In and under and through
Quick and small then
Gone
It is the swipe of a machete through jungle vines
The paw print in drying mud
Meters from our cabanas
A jaguar and its baby
Retreating into the rain forest
Next to a rust colored, slow moving, expanding river
Madre de Dios – Mother of God
Banks of red clay calve and plunge
Tumbling trees
Roots grasp, clutching air
The river reaches toward the thousand-year ironwood
And the fire ant tree, the kapok, acacia, and palms
Dragons blood, snake tree, monkey vines flowing with drinkable water
Tinctures, serums, cures and lure of leaves, bark, sap, and thorn
Avocado, cocoa, acai, papaya
Orange, lemon, lime, banana, nuts and berries
The tapirs, macaws, sloths and anaconda
Caiman, capuchin, and capybara
Butterflies like flowers
Fluttering on the bank
Water of life, Mother of God
Coursing over, under, through
Weeping clouds and melting glaciers
Quickening
The hot, moist breath on our skins, clothes and phones
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