07/14/26 A New Poem for a New Day

I did not settle in the place
Where the sun rises slowly over the rolling waves
Where the mountains kiss the gentle mist
Where the voices chant under the rising sun

I did not settle in the place
Where the cicadas cry in the forest
In unwavering melody
A premonition of the horror to come

I did not settle in the place
Where the scent of food permeates
To entice people to stop to buy
From their endless stream of motorbikes
Taking them to and fro

I did not settle in the place
Where others sit and drink
Each new round a toast
For a tomorrow they’d rather not see

I did not settle in the place
Where everyday I once breathed
Long sighs in my desperate attempt
To remain in old debates long settled
And follow where I did not want to go

I did not settle in the place
Where everyone says hello
Excited to meet a foreigner
But never understanding me

I did not settle in the place
Where I could see
The ocean and its waves,
The mountains and its mist,
Or the people and their flurry
Become the wallpaper of my life

Blast from the past:

Do more than see. Seek.
The assent to the finite.
Desire to create.