demeurer

hour of parting comes
that lifelong fascination

weeks stay in samui where
balmy westerly winds stir
waters deceivingly shallow

what you leave behind alike
to what you take with you
lush tree leafages
careening coconut-trees
ruffled by the breeze
combing the breeze
breeze-inebriated
swinging
wild

directions' mantra released
chants of removal from
bays of distances
harbors in longing

swiftly moving ritual
high tidal cadences
reinventing shores to brace for
morning rises to come

just as stars
when they brace
darks in retreat

koh samui, february 2004