The trail stretched serpentine
above the azure lake
with the rising sun
beginning to peek
just above the horizon.
In that beautiful place,
I walked along
in solitude
with my heavy pack
surrounded
by fields
of endless beans.
And in the early mist,
two tiny
smiling children,
silent,
swiftly
passed me
with overflowing baskets,
destined
for the market,
and you,
and me.

Called Religion before Romanticism:
Darling Radha’s swing,
Pressing softly to her blue
Beloved Trickster’s skin.

Called dharma, grace, and savoir-faire
Confounding fated will,
Called freedom then for putting off
The destiny we fear.

From her swing I can believe
In good romantic faith-
While makers of a moment’s
Beauty, steal a tear away.

When I laid,
Bathing in the roaring spray
At the feet of the lower falls,
And wandered through soft blue
Volcanos guarding Atitlan.

When I watched,
Clouds burst from his fingertips
Cold war to choral glory,
Seid um schlungen Millionen!
An die Freiheit! An die Freude!

When I found,
A girl whose smile couldn’t hide her pain
Singing her song’s last echo,
At once the world was not the same, but...
How could I ever know.

How could I ever know...

After the West was won with lies
One man said, "God is dead."
I mute the TV from her swing,
Smile, and bow my head.

I wandered
along the mountain path,
high above the lake,
watching the morning star
slowly rise
through the mist,
embarking
on another fine day,
it was glorious.

A warm vapor
synchronized my breathing,
it was surreal, me
hiking light years away,
on another planet
when brother & sister
strolled along,
two working-ghosts,
their huge-baskets
brimming full of beans.

Barefoot,
they passed quickly by
with only a grin & a nod,
disappearing behind me,
back into the clouds
floating above Atitlan.
It warmed my soul.

It was in those days
That I left everything I knew
Behind
And it was in those days
Peering over the lake of volcanos
That I sensed my first
piece of
peace.

It was in those days that I
stumbled
up the cobblestone hills
No longer accompanied by
family and friends of familiarity

I walked amidst the shadow
Of the universe
I relished it's companionship
It's introduction to the people and experiences
I was meant to encounter

When I was afraid
It pushed me further
Showed me a thing of beauty
Reminded me
What it was to
Truly exist

In those days my heart smiled
Through the loneliness
Through the unknown
Through the broken hearts of a
World forgotten
I saw beauty in the ruins
Felt my body resonate with the
deepest pulse of the universe
and
In those days
I felt whole