First Impressions of Bahia

Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos:
Certain cities are watched over, protected,
Graced by looming presences praised & revered
This region is colored by ancient energies,
Lighting a candle illuminating an angelic throng
All singing a seductive samba song
A serenade to Exu, Senhor do Bonfim,
The orisha who opens the way,
Lord of the Crossroads,
Trickster by day:
while the congregation calls in unision:

Laroyê!

Palm fronds & crooked cobblestone streets
Cachaca and crushed leaves swirled into a drink so sweet
A week in a former monastery, all thin walls & old ghosts
A convent turned hotel overlooking the harbor and coast
Penned in @ the Pelourinho
Aka “the pillory”
A pillar where imported slaves where once whipped and chained
The residual grace now remains
Where capoeiristas ginga and orishas hold sway
Where Africa & the indigenous parlay to play
Guardian spirits overlook this haunted bay
This the epicenter of Exu, the lord of ways…
Laroyê!

“I have the colors and shapes that I want
I am not evil nor saint, I am Exu!
I order and disorder, draw and erase, do and undo.
I am and don’t go. I take and don’t give. I am Exu.
I pass and cross. I draft, I blend and dance.
I am fluster and joy.
I roll, take and put; I gamble and have faith.
I am cloud, wind and dust.
When I want, man and woman.
I am of beaches and tides.
I possess each corner; I am boy, grandfather, even crazy.
I can be Joao, Maria or Jose.
I am the crossing point.
I sleep awake and snore speaking.
I run, cry and jump, I can “make son” whistling.
I am mortar, from dream, flesh and sand.
I am the people without flag.
The spit, my stick.
The seat? The wind!...
I am from the world, nor field, nor city.
I have no age.
I receive and respond through the peak, the horns of the nation.
I am Exu. I am shake, life, action.
I am the horns of the new moon; the belly of the full moon.
Do you want more?
I don’t give, I am not here anymore.”

Mario Cravo Jr., Bahian sculptor, artist, and scribe