A Place I Have Never Been
A place I Have Never Been
This place I travel to
Still I have never been.
I like the casual feel of your words.
I relish the smell of these streets.
Words extracted from your experiences.
I hungrily accept your invitation.
I come along with you to town,
to Saigon.
Although I have not traveled on these streets,
you somehow have made them
feel familiar.
I choose a red bicycle,
the one I wish I had when I was a child.
As we ride you salute the spirits.
I think “What a strange boy!”
You turn and smile and I think
“Maybe I am wrong?”
The incense of Lang Ong Shrine clings to me.
My linen shirt retains the scent.
Perhaps with a whiff I can come back here again?
You bike quickly
in a slow kind of way.
I feel pebbles beneath my tires.
I like the fortune tellers in the market, but I do not stop.
I’m afraid of what they might have to say. Did they for-tell that we would meet here on white pages?
I fear I will get lost
in the Ba Chieu Market.
If I speak who will understand me?
Am I willing to barter
for a strange bargain?
If I could,
I too would scale the walls,
Evade the police.
But I have no worry,
for I travel on
your waves of thought.
“Sandals Sunglasses and Hats!” your strings vibrate.
Me I catch your tunes.
Thoughts rise like balloons.
Red balloons, the colour of my bicycle, the bicycle I never had.
Yes I come along with you, to town.
Onto the dirt trails of Dong Ong Co.
I wish to meet your Dharma uncle at his Temple.
Am I being bold?
May we share a cup of tea?
In being here can my heart be healed?
Can I grasp bits of my lost self in a conversation that has not happened? Will Buddha offer me understanding?
I step gently
for I know I am your guest.
My breath incapable
of moving air in this place.
My footprints don’t disturb the dust.
Yet I have somehow arrived here.
Who does the Altar belong to?
Not to this white ghost
from a far off land.
Still I am thankful
Thankful for the invitation
to visit a strangely familiar land.
Inspired by Hai Phan’s beautiful poem”Come Along With Me”.
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