Manuel August 13, 2007

The local laundromat was pumping with activity tonight at 8.30. Several dozen families and men were washing their clothes. I was leaning against the washer, and one guy was looking in my direction. So I decided to ask him. But he was unconvinced. Though curious about the project he was unwilling to write on me. And so was his brother, who was folding all the clothes.

"Estan seguros? Are you sure?"

"No. I don't want to write on you."

Okay.

So I walked outside and Manuel was there, sitting in his pick up truck talking to a friend. I walked up to the truck.

"Hola. Buenas noches. Mira. Soy artista." [Hi - good evening. Look, I'm an artist."]

"Yo tambien." [Me, too.]

"De veras?" [Yeah?]

"Si. Que tipo de artista eres?" [Yes. What kind of artist are you?]

"Escritora. Y usted?" [A writer. How about you?]

"Constructor." [A construction worker]

"Ah pues - sus materiales incluyen madera, cemento..." [Oh - so you're materials are wood, cement...]

"Y foam." [And foam.]

"Que bien. Mis materiales son las palabras, no mas." [Cool. Mine are words. Only words.]

"Ah pues. Y entonces, que esta haciendo ahora?" [Well. So, what are you doing right now?]

"Un proyecto en que le pido a una persona que escribe en mi brazo. Una persona cada dia por cien dias. He completado 90 dias hasta ahora." [A project in which I ask one person to write on my arm. One person each day for 100 days. Today's the 90th day.]

"Pues faltan diez." [You only have 10 days left.]

"Si." [Yes.]

"Y que haces con las palabras?" [What do you do with the words?]

"Pues, despues de que alguien escribe una palabra, tomo una foto." [After someone writes the word, I take a photo of it.]

"Soy alergico a las fotos." [I'm allergic to photos.]

"Yo tambien. Pero no le tomo fotos a las personas. No mas las palabras. Yo tambien soy alergica." [So am I! But I don't take photos of the people. Only the words. I'm also allergic to photos.]

We laughed.

"Y que haces con las fotos?" [What do you do with the photos?]

"Bueno hasta ahora no he hecho nada. Pero pienso hacer algo. Escribir poesia o pedir que las otras personas escriben algo." [Un until now,nothing. But I'm thinking of doing something with them. Write poetry or ask other people to write poetry.]

"Y que palabra escriben?" [What words do people write?]

"Lo que quieren. Puede ser hola o cualquier otra palabra." [Whatever they want. It could be "hola" or any other word.]

"Deja ver...que escribirias con la palabra hola." [Let's see. What would you write with the word "hola"]

"Pues no se...quizas `hola a la noche...'" [I don't know. Maybe "Hola a la noche..."]

"No! Tienes que escribir algo como `Hola al mar, que saluda la arena en la tarde de mis olvidos.'" [No - you have to write something like `Hola al mar..."]

"Eres poeta tambien, pues?! Ven - escribame una palabra." [So you're a poet, too! Come on, write a word on me.]

"Como no." [Sure, why not.]

And so he wrote "La tarde que beo (veo) caer sobre mi rostro." [The afternoon that falls over my face]

"Deveras que eres poeta." [You really are a poet.]

"Bueno..." [Well...]

He then asked me what else I was working on. I told him I'd written a novel. He asked me the title and laughed when I told him.

"Porque la falda? Tiene que ser algo como `Las Mujeres Traiccionadas.' o algo asi. Yo tengo un libro que dice `El Amor Eterno'." [Why skirt? It should be something like "Women Betrayed" or something like that. I have a book titled "Eternal Love".]

"Bueno - quizas la proxima sera una novela de amor." [Well, maybe the next book will be a romance novel.]

"Si. Asi es mejor, no?" [It's better that way, no?]

"De acuerdo." [Sure.]

We introduced ourselves to each other and bid each other good bye. And I have this amazing line of poetry on my arm.

Not a bad way to start the count down to the final 10 days.