Emanate

I've been fascinated for years by the natural bursting of water to the surface of the earth. On the way to the pilgrimage town of Chalma in southern Mexico my family stopped at a roadside site with a spring at the base of a large tree. Gushes of water burst in between roots that looked like the palm of a hand and fingers trying to keep the water inside the earth.

The symbol for a spring on a 300 year-old map of New Mexico is an eye with rays of water emanating like eye lashes. On tour in New Mexico about 15 years ago the Taco Shop Poets searched out some hillside hot springs near Jemez. We found elderly hippies cavorting in the buff in the warm waters. We didn't dip.

In West Los Angeles there's a natural spring surrounded by a park on the southeast corner of University High School. Once a month or so members of the Tongva tribe open the grounds for an open house. All this and more inspired the above picture poem. Let me know your thoughts.

Poet and Journalist Adolfo Guzman-Lopez writes his column Movie Miento every Tuesday at 2 p.m. on KCET's SoCal Focus blog. It is a poetic exploration of Los Angeles history, Latino culture and the overall sense of place, darting across LA's physical and psychic borders.