Sunset

Past houses that look like a heron, Along canals as narrow as a puddle. The people there alike as two drops of water. Their spines worn down by heavy working days. They look with a gaze as wild as a cat's. Between us there's a chasm, and a little more. With an honest smile I thin out the sternness. It's all so simple here, and squalor all around. Someone on a porch is dragging on a cheap smoke. Half-naked kids are bouncing with a ball. For belongings — sticks and nets and cables. No fashion, no trends — just any rags at all. Along narrow planks we make our way to the boat. It roars so loud you cannot hear your thoughts. A couple of "wow!"s — and my throat is hoarse. Our VIP boat slices through the waves fast. Here's a fisherman, looking me straight in the eye, Reaching with a dirty finger for a cigarette. It fell, but he won't pick it up — So they won't think, like, he's got no pride. The waterway brought us to a place Where little houses are scattered on the lake. Life is bubbling like the stories of my childhood I dreamed of seeing when I was a boy. And here I am, sprawled out on the roof, Sipping a solution of tropical juice. I feel it's gotten quieter inside. I contemplate the sky through open windows. That sunset, with its lovely scarlet colour And pink inlays, layer after layer. A string of questions and of answers Ran off in an even, smooth formation. The lines ran off, further, further, Into the distance, where the eye sees no land. The world flows through me just the same… I'll look, and leave, disturbing nothing…