Sometimes
I am reminded
The best path
Is not always direct
The best place
Is not always familiar
The best means
Is not always expedient
Sometimes
A leisurely pace
Into the unknown
Offers the surest road
To a cherished end
As yet unidentified
ATGATT
All The Gear
All The Time
Helmet
Face shield
Gloves
Ankle high boots
Padded jacket
And pants
At home
By law
Helmet & eye protection
Here too
Helmet
At least
Eye protection
If travelling
Over 50km/hr
Compliance
In Jakarta
Sketchier than home
Even for children
But not for masks
Priorities
Can be
Confusing
Imaginary
Lines crossed in the car’s back seat
Dad arm from the front
I wonder if I’ve ever been
The subject of someone’s
Best photograph of the day
But never found out
Like this fellow here
On the third shot of eleven
Who never looked up
So never saw the camera
Pointed out the taxi window
Capturing this delightful moment
Colours and edges
Splashes and blur
Nothing to see
But for the eyes
A turn of a head
And just enough detail
This would be a discard
X’d out on a contact sheet
But for those eyes
Because now I want to know
What she sees
In a moment between breaths
Clear my lungs
Clear my mind
Clear my heart
In this realm
Of sunset otherness
The heavy sigh of engines
In smooth air
As a world of cares and worries
Slides by far below
Soon enough to be rejoined
I take another breath
Feel the gentle decline
Back to Earth
Take another breath
Close my eyes
Imagine myself
In flight forever
Concerns and attachments
All suffering
Spread across the surface
Of a small globe
Above which I can choose to float
So when I choose again
To walk the Earth
I may appreciate both
Its suffering and joy
Its love and discontent
Its beauty and ugliness
Its hardship and kindness
With another breath
Empty my lungs
Empty my heart
Empty my mind
Of attachment
To one state or another
For it is the attachment
To a state of being
Which creates the suffering
Not the state of being
“Cabin attendants prepare for arrival”
Fuck Qatar Airways
Customs Delay Missed Connect
$295 to rebook
Such delight
It seems
The artist took
With godly visage
And none too small
The chisel hammered
With whimsical caprice
A fitting ode to Gods
Whose whims become
The stuff of legends told
Idyllic setting
Empty seats
New normals
Under development
I recall the halcyon
Of inviolable youth
When life
Stretched out before us
As an infinite loop of fun
While pain and suffering
Seemed ephemeral
As an all-better kiss
And adulthood perceived
As a condition of denial
That play is anything but
A full-time endeavour
Long since has that glitter faded
Pain and suffering
Joined now as companions
But little desire has this adult
To deny a child
The pleasure of play
Rather play along
Perhaps to live again
The golden lie
Of youth
Pix to Words 