rash behavior
seabather’s eruption
or scrub mites
either way
something gets under your skin
the welts come
and you’re not the same
Tag: Indonesia
learning how to wait
learning how to wait
we Americans don’t know how to wait
like other people do:
burning long days
in the broiling tin-roofed tuck shop shack
waiting for a grubby kid
to buy a single pack of candy
comfortably squatting flat-footed
in the consulate’s courtyard for days
with only cigarettes for diversion
staking out the harbor
(any harbor anywhere)
now and then querying transport?
sitting in the Singapore doctor’s office
waiting for #1750 to appear
in red dot digits outside exam room A7
in the lands where queuing is a verb
an action one takes
an inescapable reality
they know (sometimes)
how to give themselves over
to the suspension of time
savor the need to not do
for an interminable spell
knowing what a dangerous creature wants
knowing what a dangerous creature wants
every night
after dark
the big bees buzz to life
desperate to throw themselves at fire
they hurl themselves
at any light
until they’re spent, senseless
spinning circles on their backs
and their fat black bodies
litter the floor
a minefield of stingers
it lasts no more than one hour
bee o’clock we call it
and take precautions
tonight we passed the time
snug inside the mosquito net
when all was quiet
I put the boys to bed
reentering our bungalow
headlamp burning low
to keep Alex asleep
a late bloomer came at me
and I reacted well
launched the light from my forehead
halfway across the room
while its legs hugged the plastic tight
now safe inside the netting
I sigh
thankful it’s not my first night here
and I knew what it would want
on going separate ways
on going separate ways
I expected strained
awkward uncertain unbalanced
tenuous
but was not prepared
for nothingness instead
not even registering
on her map of feeling
I’m sure as usual
he’s disappointed in us all
the breeze settles to a humid stall
and even the waves refuse to break
night bugs keep up their cadence
regardless what I do or don’t do
night deepens
and the days go on
Togian Tank
Togian Tank
water like glass
smooth, edged with
conchoidal fractures
like aquamarine obsidian
and when we peep
through its lens
a fish tank
without bounds
23 October
23 October
all day I’ve been silently slipping
in and out of thoughts of you
your birthday ingrained
in my internal calendar
like my first address
a prime number
I still don’t know
what I was supposed to learn or do
what I was asked to give
how I should have changed
no one speaks of any of this here
alone I settle into
the deep confusion
your memory rends
like the sucking fountain
where the towers once stood
the darkness going down down down
deeper than light can go
into a silent still chamber
where no answers wait
after a time
I begin to ascend
glimpse the 3 warm pink bodies near me
throw my grappling hook at any and all
haul myself into sun
with enough strength left
to mumble
thank you for the alphabet soup
that brought five of us
into the light
Orionids: Lake Poso
Orionids: Lake Poso
on the dock
in the dark
I stretch out long
let the robe of stars
fall over me in folds
without seeking
I find him
the Hunter
a midnight visitor
from the familiar north
here out over the black lake
he’s different
not just a belt and shoulders
his features finally fully come into view
and for the first time
his bow is plain
clutched in his left hand
aimed over the water
before I can settle in
he fires a long streak across the sky
bright enough a trail of light lingers
I wait what feels like a long time
but the sky stays still
thankful for being at the right place
at the right time
for that one volley
I stand to leave
get my bearings on the railingless dock
then search the sky one last time
but fail to find his form
wondering was it dreamwork
a trick of the watery air
I turn back to shore
and he greets me again
of course:
prone, I realize,
I craned my neck
and found him there behind me
everything’s just as it should be –
pure magic
the joy of being sedentary
the joy of being sedentary
sitting still
in one place
going nowhere
doing nothing
being here
we discover
the sandpiper’s
loud whistle
and surprising
boat-gunwale
perch
defining concepts
defining concepts
terror:
the unpredictable unthinkable
happening to someone
you might love
anti-terror:
gifting stability and certainty
to someone
struggling to survive
*we are all beings in a ring*
turning off hate
turning off hate
one little step toward peace:
disconnect the loudspeakers
how much violence begins
as annoyance –
the simmering ire of being woken
when you just want rest?
the Christian dawn singalong
jars as much as the
Muslim call to prayer
in America
we have our own sectarian divides:
D vs. R
blue vs. red
north vs. south
east vs. west
white collar vs. blue
agnostic vs. religious
educated vs. working class
haves vs. have nots
(note the bias –
all my own assignments
stated first)
imagine if Fox News were broadcast
over speakers in Memory Square
or if my grandparents were forced
to take in a daily podcast
questioning their faith?
even good people break
silence saves our sanity
