National Poetry Month, Day #17

More than Enough

Living La Pura Vida!

Money Tree Plant in Capis Shell Vase. Watercolor by Author.

Their riches rust
in locked-up towers,
their yachts drift heavy
with boredom and booze.

They chase what slips
through jeweled fingers —
always wanting
just a little more.

But here,
light spills like diamonds
on the backs of sunlit waves,
and palm fronds sway
in a breeze born of ocean light.

What wealth compares
to the sparkle of surf at dawn,
to the gold of plantains on the tree,
to the laughter from open windows?

We do not count coins —
we count coconuts,
constellations, sunsets,
the guttural rumbles of howler monkeys
returning from the coast.

We have the sun, the sea, the jungle —
what fool would trade this gold for chains?

— Adelia E. Ritchie