Tree bark

The night

Just a reminder that

As long as I can hallucinate

While my eyes 

Scan from right to left

Moving from the top 

To the bottom

Of marked out tree bark

(Or the modern version of it)

I can stave off

The loneliness 

And what are you

Without your secret shame?

Where are the girls

There is a new pond 

In my.neighbourhood

Several, actually 

Something of a revival

A restoration

Of old springs that used to be

Dug up before they are

Buried by houses

That would have inevitably sprouted

If the place was left alone

As a bushy swamp

And now the ponds look beautiful

Surrounded by walls of

Traditional-looking

Orange bricks

Some carved stone spouts

And some beautiful structures

I take in all the beauty

All the serenity that comes with water

As I walk around the perimeter

Wishing there I was pond-view cafe

Where I could sit and work

And then I hear the splash

And see what's causing it

Boys

Six seven eight nine ten years old

Taking a dip

Into the green, algae filled water

Getting some coolness

On this parching hot day

Some take laps around the pool

Spme just fooling around

Some naked some partially

I enjoy their joy

Their happiness

Their facility of enjoying

Public structures

And I enjoy theur ability

To take off their clothes

And out it back on

In public, at leisure

I contemplate

On this happy moment

As I think

Is it allowed?

But of course, 

It belongs to them,

I think again

And then

The thought

Buzzing

At the back of my mind

Grows louder and louder

Until I can no longer ignore it

WHERE ARE THE GIRLS?

Pretend

Not to care

But at the back of your mind

Whirring

Buzzing 

Are dialogues

Responses

Come backs

To

Whatever you said

Doesn't matter 

Lightness

Also comes with

Throwing the baby

Out with the bathwater

Great not to care

About things

That drag you down

And drown you

But how do you retain

The care of

Things you do need to

Care about

Things that make you happy

And heal you

Shedding

How light it feels

To shed 

All the burdens

Of care

To simply not care

Lotus

Like a lotus flower

Is the Kathmandu valley

With a fertile, plain

Circle at its base

And hills surrounding it

Unfolding in layer after layer

Around it

Climb up one hill

Touch the sky

And come back down to 

The earth

Because no matter 

How high you climb

One day 

You have to get down

**

And so is life

No matter how far you go

How high you reach

Down you come tumbling

**

No wonder

Lotus

Is the flower of

Enlightenment