we get together and take a seat
community building, how does it work?
Being an outsider, I tend to lurk
In the back or on the side, its true,
small talk or banter I tend to eschew
in any language, not just here
my uncomfortability seems to be clear.
And then they come to greet me -
to say hello and meet me
Friends and players from all over town;
Come out social spirit don't let me down!
Oh political reunions, you lovely beast
Could be half the people at them show up for the feast.
Crackers and juice, maybe even pan
at the higher echelons I'm sure they serve flan.
Opening with the songs we love to sing.
Remembering all the words would be a blessing.
The national hymn makes me feel humble,
but the state song I can only mumble.
summarizing themes is the mayor's magic serum.
We listen intently, enchanted by his prose,
many snap photos as we wait for him to close.
Tourism is the topic, the reason we have come,
and we'll touch on this word in every way before we are done.
Our tiny little town, how to get it on the map -
Community tourism would be a feather in his cap.
The quantity of companies, entities and players,
associations, cooperatives and many other layers.
The network of legalities and paperwork is vast;
But to the dream of development our community holds fast.
The long list of speakers continues down the line,
Some reading from their power-points, we're having quite the time
listening to these experts, learning what to do
If they keep defining tourism we might learn something too.
Sitting in our plastic chairs, when we dream we do it big,
No one would ever think to say the system may be rigged.
Instead we come together, hear the experts once again
telling us just what to do - How to become Edén.
other tiny towns we see that succesfully have grown.
Tourism of adventure, rappel and bungee
of course all this infrastructure must start with some funding.
Finally the lights are back, the videos are done;
Writing rhymes in the dark turns out to be quite fun.
now we hear from locals, their stories and lessons
and hear that the philosophy is one of conservation.
The juice arrives and I find out, Its got a bit of bite,
aguardiente with my drink, I don't put up a fight!
We listen to the locals, seed savers and our friends
who want to save the world and see monoculture's end.
The talking continues, late into the night
solutions to all our problems are coming into sight.
We share our dreams and visions, and drink more special juice
The meeting keeps going, getting long in the tooth.
As they finish talking, and wrapping up with thanks,
reviewing all the progress and how high this meeting ranks,
the clear conclusion shows itself, lets itself be heard;
The next step to tourism - come back the 23rd!
