Home is something i’ve never known
I only how to go, go far
by train by van by thumb by plane
by my weary legs with viking calves
To be clear, from grade 1 through 4
I lived in the same house
Near a Guildford forest
Now a shopping mall
I built tree forts with abandoned lumber
Explored burned out wreckage across the dirt lane
Where i found a rusty hammer handle
Charred with reason unseen
Since then, no where longer
than three years
i don’t count the places
as i can’t determine a criteria
what’s to be included
when all is transitory
Motels for months
Uninvited couch surf for a season
Roommates unwanted
A parked van for happy nights
Years when tents and tarps
Out-counted a solid roof room
I can light a fire in the rain
Just can’t put it out
Communes, communities and rest area
wooded campout national parks
thwarting eviction by limitations
by rangers claiming beachlands
as their authority
Destinations not near as important
as the ways and the means
Frankly i’m not particular
but partial to somewhere calm
of transport conveyance
public or private
not as interesting as dirty or clean
and most often importantly
slow, or at least not deliberately swift
though speedy and secure will suffice
Some ramblers love airports
the commotion and details
i shut off senses and try to avoid
conversations with strangers
who looks like me
Give me the awkward lost ones
the folks fumbling through
not the seasoned jaded sharpy
others can interrupt train tables
whereas i can only figure
north or south
from the town i leave
and when it might arrive
Noting: if overnight, make sure stops after 9
when the coffee shops are open
workers on their way
i’ll pause to fill a cup with cream
stir in too much sugar
for false hope and energy
I wrote instructions for other to hitchhike
must add a disclaimer to ensure no damage
i can’t be held responsible for randomness
rushing highway on-ramps, just hold a sign
While a freighter stateroom is ideal
an empty cabin might have to do
to peer out the porthole
and see the same sea each day
Fringed by sand or trees or
ports requiring approval
inky stamps are a weakness
and to think 100 years ago
a passport was rather absurd
of course you are from elsewhere
present yourself
because they already know you are here
commit to your cover story
whether lies or truth indifferent
Just become who you say
before it catches up with you
Sparking Beedies through the strait of Hormuz considering the children I keep employed tying tiny green strings, next to elders snug around dry, burly leaves
Piracy warnings lights off on the decks to pretend to confuse thwart grappling hooks avoiding a dramatic turn
Maneuvering fast around sheep, minarets and sand dunes lanyards grant passage indicated by satellite
I’ll hide in the solarium or perhaps the engine room, next to acetylene tanks and Greek captains with nautical miles unequaled to date
Radio tubes dicate “1 point to port” to provide mathematicians a hobby the statisticians a muse
Auctioneers work quicker than cartographers and even faster than a bullet trains who at least have the decency to stop at stations from time to time to allow the slow minds needed moments to breathe
For reasons i don’t understand myself
I dream of downtowns i will never visit
I prefer to exist in tiny villages with a
Efficient post office, perfect cafe and bakery
Next to a bookshop with stationary
Fresh pencils and inky pens
But when i try (i only try) to sleep
Rocked by tracks or waves
Or a simulation of above
I am high collared coat and
Woolen scarf
Lost in a city i am unsure about
Devoid of knowledge or expectations
Tucking down alleys so narrow
I can touch each side
Intuition leads me to a diner or bar
With 8 seats or less
A barman asks me to finish a top-shelf bottle
So he can finally restock
Entirely impolite not to oblige
A lady en route to work asks me nervously
And tells me her real name without request
Immigrant dishwasher asks for five for a smoke
On the rainy stoop
Favorite music i’ve never heard
Faded enka ballads, and low fado
Improvised bass notes
From the Arco hotel
When i leave, only the lights gently undim,
As a gracious hint
Misty rain invariably falls
I steady with a cane rather than an umbrella
Which simply neglects the senses
Of acute tactility
Neither warm nor chill
Wool and silk release a fragrance
Of countryside hounds
And afternoon farm toil
The trousers are pressable to show again
A crisp crease and a scarf doubles as a hint
Of elegance and distracts from leather boots,
Muddied atop polish from a dirt road monsoon of
The non-fiction chapter of erstwhile reality
My half life
Is the better part of me
up to you entirely
which half you want to see
Stolen library books
Or loud guitars
I exist
Somewhere in between
Diamonds and dungaree
Top floor hotels
Or a flophouse squat
Something in a middle path
On a train or out to sea
Weirdness follows along
Wherever i wander and roam
Tiniest palm islands
Or festival jamboree
Trails up mountains
Without a map
Trying to get lost
Cities with no language
Means or currency
My skills are entirely impractical
Sitting in patio cafes
Writing letters to loves i never knew
And drinking watery tea
I’ve minted banknotes on vellum
Carved ink stamps in balsa wood
And manufactured clandestine postage stamps
Printed in Singapore
Who will you choose when we meet
Out here on the globe
Will you recognize my face
As a friend or
Consider me an enemy
Three miles sideways
Just a couple of pals
Perhaps a lover and a best friend
Rotating walk-on characters
In a dramatic documentary comedy
Will you cast me in yours
If i perform well in your required auditions?
Scars from stingrays
A list of broken bones
Initials carved on noble trees
Scrapbooks full of secrets
I’ve heard of something called a home
But not sure where i left it
You ask me where i’m from “from”
I ask you where we are
Observe the world with binoculars
But a monocle shows more clear
Usually hidden behind dark glasses
To hide my joyful tears
Shortwave radio brings me
News from a decade or four ago
Explorers gone before me
Charting meandering paths
Pointing the longest way
To warmth and mystery
Maybe i can be the one
Who inspires or perhaps
Breaks you out of everyday
You are whoever you choose
As though i know
When reality suggests
I know a little except
How to be occasionally free