Four Friends Tour Costa Rica - May 5, 2024

this merry band of bantering

old sparrows winds through the jungle

spewing jokes  gossip wandering

up past the bromeliads

tucked into tree nooks

under a roof of shadows

suddenly a toucan appears

white-throated  black tuxed

with a huge orange claw for a beak

that lances the green darkness

the colors shush them

until someone jokes

I have a shirt just like that

but no one laughs

everything so vivid and alive

they only take pictures with their eyes

with cameras limp in hand

trying not to scratch the silence

till it flies off and they’re back

on the trail  heads down

not a breeze coming

from any mouth

roped together

in silent wonder