Tag Archives: travel

Photography, Poetry

Siteseeing

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on the other side of the world a privileged woman trek stumbles between one village and another/ she feels the autumn wind while climbing steep hills to view a wild and shimmering ever shifting sea/ dodging crowds she repeats mantras to hold onto sanity and kindness/ it’s open season on ancient wonders and civility/ so many photo ops and each one a smiling special feature subverts the object of the frame/ I am a tourist and why is it tourists must exemplify the obtrusive (and loud and lame)/ rainy days bring quiet albeit temporary reprieve/ big maple leaf on damp crosswalk stones reminds me of home/ it doesn’t mean I’m yet ready (unwilling) or driven (out) to go🪶

Photography, Poetry

Mind in a Suitcase

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thoughts get lost in a lost overfull suitcase

keys in a pocket get lost separately

treasures of memories sewn deep

in silver lining soaking now in a dark salty sea

maybe the seal will have to succumb

all your collectable colours be displayed

dolphins and whales and sea urchin

explorers will all take a part of you away

give no quarter to thoughts of rescue

gone is gone for ever in the drink

what was once becomes eventually

withered remains or a part of an unexpected

imagined or hopeful and though unseen

something shining brilliant and new🪶

Photography, Poetry

Simplicity

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somewhere along the road

from there to here

we pause to rest

shut that motor down

a stretch and a hum

blue sky and fields of green

a soft prairie wind

distant bird choir

foxtail we used to call it

but maybe it’s wild barley

a rhythmic sway

my eyes close

the sun warms my limbs

my clothing sighs

and wherever we are

for brief moments this

June day

all is in balance

a stranger in an old Ford

flashes a peace sign

and I am unafraid🪶

Photography, Poetry

A Hole in the Wall

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Sheep watch with curiosity ready

for flight should you become dangerous

Talk soft like you place your boots

hoping there’s no bog below to seep in

Green is green

Ocean’s wild

You’re an actor in this epic scene

You alone with your whispers and wonder

Lean into stone window for faerie views

No one but painted sheep to question you

Photography, Poetry

Out

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A face is pressed against a window watching

sun’s slow slumber falling behind low hills

A face is thin lines etched into vapour caught

between distance and moments of deep winter freeze

Your face invisible

recording passing scenes

You are a passenger

This is a speeding vessel

You are not aimless but

I am only part time a driver

My attention wavers from

this winding road our wheels move along

That lake looks lonesome

like a wanderer dreaming of home.

Photography, Poetry

Bench

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Hurry your eloquent passion

Time slicing devisor of measures

Breathing’s an act of deliberate intention

Dancers like you touching ground

Leave no trace evidence for eyes

Resting comes soon with practice

A bench to contemplate grace

Warmed by hours in afternoon sunlight

Twilight arrives with patient treasure

Gathered from days of the world

Photography, Poetry, Travel

Guide

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There are no tourists now

No trekkers following close behind

No hikers underestimating the distance

Overestimating their stamina or agility

Almost a whole year’s income forfeited

The guide paces his village

His friend, porter when they’re on the trails

Leading the curious from around the world

Over steep mountain passes

Counselling on how to safely pass a Yahk caravan

Returning from a trading journey in Tibet

Designing routes to accommodate trekkers’ demands

Limitations or schedules or delays due to altitude sickness,

is anxious too but not so anxious as the guide

Who thought he could endure month after month at home

Being a grandson a son a husband a father a farmer

Stationary

His friend says we will rebuild and we will soon again traverse

High mountain passes through Langtang, Annapurna, and the mighty Manaslu

We will stand at the edge of the world and watch the clouds fill up

the depths of Kali Gandhi Gorge at Khopra Ridge

They will return and we will guide them again, my brother

But the guide is inconsolable

He retreats into himself and does not eat

No one will remember us he tells his friend

The world is afraid of us now

The trekkers are gone forever and we are nothing

In the West, we do remember

Two humble young men who became guardians

To us in an unfamiliar and perilous landscape

Its spectacular natural beauty eluding capture

In photographs, its vistas defying description through mere words

Two who educated who held us when we ran out of breath

Whose patience coaxed us to the survival side of our trepidations and fears

Whose care and kindness effected permanent changes within us

We do remember

With a bond borne of gratitude and love

And upon receipt of our nominal gift the guide sends his quiet message

Namaste. Thank you, mama and papa, for thinking of us

It’s so strange having no work when we are always ready

But you are right maybe

We will all somehow make it through to 2022

One day maybe we will again see you

I read his words through a blur

And hope somehow that distant dream might come true.

Photography, Poetry

Stones

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My palm warmed the stone

I plucked from the many

As we trod long across unfamiliar awaiting discovery

Before the steep

Before the onset of fear

Before staccato breaths bred control

I paused at a rubble pile

Sacred someone says

Safe passage to those who leave an offering

Balanced here in morning’s light

Photography, Poetry

Nature Wins

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image

Ah

I have realized

again

and again

breathing out

breathing in

when I venture out

when I come back in

whether harsh with cold

or soft summer wind

whatever day or dare or game

we find ourselves stumbling in

Nature wins

Nature wins.