Synopsis
Over the past 10 years Donald Guravich and I have often visited Pátzcuaro, living there for months at a time. We returned again in the winter of 1997-1998. These pieces were written during that period.
Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a beautiful small colonial city located on the edge of a high mountain lake, was built upon the pyramids at dwellings of the Purepecha people who still live and speak their Purepecha language there today.
A short stay on the coast of Nayarit in Sayulita ended this trip. Sayulita, a small ejido village being 'found' by North Americans hungry for sun and cheap land, is in the process of quick transition towards development and foreign ownership.
During this trip I was fortuitously given a copy of Pablo Neruda's Memoirs, which became a close reading companion. I was deeply impressed by the warmth of the feelings and language for his fellow poets, a wholehearted brotherhood. - J.K.