CABO DE SAN VICENTI
by me

Standing there
on the edge
or
the tip
the Romans said
they said the tip
the tip of the earth
they said

As they stood
watching
watching the sun
slide
slide down the horizon
to be swallowed
only to be swallowed
by the sea

Standing there I thought
pondered
I pondered
is life my life
like that
like the sun does it too
like the sun
get swallowed by the universe

More than that
I pondered
does it rise again
rise
like the sun
in the east 
somewhere
 anywhere

hmmmm?

On a lighter note, these last days….in Lagos we have had a few final things we wanted to do. One was to visit the town of Loule. This town sits away from the coast and, without a car, it is difficult to get to so after three visits to the Algarve we finally made the trip thanks to some Canadian friends who offered to let us tag along. The main attraction is their beautiful central market. It is the largest covered market in all of southern Portugal and on Saturdays it is surrounded by more open market stalls and jam packed with locals and tourists alike. To add to the congestion there arrives on the outskirts of town a Gypsy market as well. Great fun, great food and a great time. There is even a little square given over to chocolate and only chocolate. Chocolate candy, chocolate fountains, chocolate mini pancakes, bon bons, truffles, and more. More important, this small town is the birthplace and home of a very famous Portuguese poet. Well..not world famous like some other Portuguese literary figures. We will leave that to the likes of Saramago who won the Nobel Prize in Literature and Luis Vaz de Camoes who is up there with the great ones. But our interest here is Antonio Aleixo. Antonio is a Portuguese literary hero. A semi illiterate boy who became the voice of the people and a role model for social advancement. Antonio now sits in sculptural form at a table in front of the Cafe Calcinha in Loule and I sat next to him. He is my hero as well because many of my teachers saw me as, at the very least, semi illiterate. We had several more walks on our mind before we left for Lisbon. We felt we needed to complete a couple of more segments of The Fisherman’s Trail before we were gone from the Algarve. So…on a beautiful sunny day we took a bus to Burgau, walked through the little village and found our way to the path that would take us to The Praia de Luz. The ominous power of the Atlantic is eroding the cliffs of Southern Portugal at an alarming rate. Ancient forts, castles and even villages will soon be taken and become part of the turmoil beneath. But not on this day. On this day the sea is quiet, almost silent, belying its tremendous strength; kissing the shore as if to apologize for the harm it has caused. We walk along the path above struck by the stillness, the blueness; understanding that we look down on what truly controls the earth. Our next and final walk along the Algarve cliffs takes us to Cabo de San Vincenti. Again the sun is off somewhere in the blue of its sky and with a little persistence we find our last cliff walk. A beautiful walk and a beautiful way to say goodbye to a part of the world we have discovered and returned to for so many years. So then… Ta ta for now and, as they said many decades ago, we will catch you on the flip side.
Jack and Donna