Not listening

I listen, at first,

to a presentation, informal,

on the business climate in Brazil,

and I think Rio, I feel the hot sands

of Ipanema and Copacabana

under my feet and the smells

of carnival’s flamboyance

and excess assault my nose until

I turn to the mountain

with its huge statue of Jesus

welcoming all with his arms

rigidly straight, not unlike

his arms on the cross.

Photograph of the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, via pixgood.com.