Mural on the School Wall

Like a fading dream, the mural
showing Mexican life on the shore
loses color every day.
Now that village sounds
change to tourist noise,
the block-long mural on the school wall
recedes like my youth.
All that busy life!
Washing clothes, and babies,
throwing nets in perfect arc,
all that singing trust—
visible still, but disappearing.

Vivid hues so softened now.
The vigorous man who set his machete down,
to enjoy his breakfast tortillas,
has features melted into age.
The dog at his feet
blurs into sand.
The boat is turning into water.
So the brilliant mural of my life,
my little life so edged and bright,
slowly secreting behind time’s curtain,
spreads and puddles.
It mixes my colors, making me new.

poem by Susa Silvermarie
mural by Efren Gonzalez