BEFORE DISCUSSING MICROFINANCING,
WALKING AROUND TRUJILLO WHERE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
LANDED IN 1502, TAKING NOTES FROM POSTERS,
WONDERING AND LISTENING

  by Jim Bodeen

Slavery, citizenship and memory, the poster reads,
Announcing the seminar on minor ports and the Atlantic.
This was the moment of contact. Punta Caximas. 14 Agosto 1502. Colón.
Keep the carnival going. Sex lives of cannibals.
David Ashburn, remember him from last night,
He has a jungle school, helping Honduran children.
The taxi driver asks one question:
Do you know the history of the hotel you’re staying at?
It was an Army barracks for U.S. troops during Iran-Contra.
That parking lot is an air strip built by Oliver North.

The North Coast of Honduras is original work. 
The U.S. Army taps into magical realism.
Honduras continues to invent itself. 
This is the beauty of the jungle—
One can see cover-up in the architecture.