Pedro Pietri at Sandino Airport 1986

Pero Pietri was a warm, strange, beguiling, hilarious, generous poet, an amazing individual whom I knew briefly for ten days in January 1986 while traveling with he and Allen Ginsberg and a group of North America writers and publishers in Nicaragua. Pedro charmed everyone, dressed always in black, and carried a valise that said "Rent a coffin" in giant white letters on its side.

I saw him only a little on the trip, he was always missing press conferences, wandering who-knows-where 'til all hours of the tropical night, and generally partying and carrying on with mischievous enthusiasm. But when he was around he manifested a vibe of pure humor and empathy and I am grateful for having been in his orbit, however briefly.

Pedro Pietri, Sandino Airport, Managua, Feb 1, 1986