a million moths.

the most beautiful neighborhood today. there were banana trees, mosaic walls, victorian homes in blue, terracotta and turquoise. splashes of paint playfully colored the sidewalks, and in a tiny park that used be a garbage dump, bright christmas bulbs still hung from shiny garland.  

along a wall, in fading letters: we will always remember you on our street.

i wanted to stay.  just pick a house and plant some flowers. wake up tomorrow to speak in spanglish and say “buenos dias” to my vecinos. talk to the lady with friendly eyes and frizzy hair who uses sticks to dig for cans and bottles. just sit outside don edgar’s market and watch the world pass by: joggers with ipods, mothers with grocery bags, children with scooters, cholos with attitudes…