We Are Blind Because We Can See

I've had just enough time...   to learn that truth can be hidden in plain sight

You may not see the truth even if you have compound eyes...

I was so sure of my sight because I could see

Better than others, I thought

So I did not heed those close to me

"Beware! Things are not what they seem"

But I trusted my sight more because I, could see

We were so sure of the rights we fought

That we could not be wrong

Justice, compassion, transparency, truth

I thought all who came under the banners

Fought for the same God

The battles had been fought and lost

The banners strewn on the battlefield

With the corpses, as I retreated I reflect -

Blindness is such a strange ailment

We are blind because we are so sure we see

Taken of the moth in my garden who reminded me that truth can be hidden in plain sight...

How our eyes deceived us. We would not have been fooled if we were blind. I saw the path I was shown. I saw it lead straight to the castle. And we charged. But we did not see the swamp that bogged us down. That made us easy preys to the hidden foes and the circling vultures. We felt the slings of arrows taking up arms against a sea of troubles. No more! I lay down my arms but not before I reluctantly slay the beautiful illusive dream. But worry not about the dreamer, he dreams new dreams without bloodshed instead...

Paid To Create Dreams That You Will Purchase

I've had just enough time...   to see a dream painted

Taken in a production workshop for disabled artists, Hanoi

The dreams I paint

I wish I am in

But the dreams I paint

Are sold for money

Taken away

Will it be nourished

Or left in a forgotten corner

Among forgotten things

I don’t mind sharing if…

The needle in her hand flew and a picture took shape

I wanted to ask -

What is it you see in my dreams

When you hand over your money

I don’t want to sell if you feel nothing

But I’ve no say

I’m paid to create dreams

That You will purchase

Taking a break and admiring her own dream which will be taken away in exchange for money

Part II – To Carve Out the Soul of An Elephant.

I've had just enough time to...   see how life was breathed into the elephants of wood.

Taken in a handicraft shop on the way to the River Kwai from Bangkok.

To carve an elephant

First, feel its might pulsating

Under your finger tips

Feel its gentleness

Feel its strength

Feel its tenderness

Towards its young

Feel its complexity

Feel its friendship

Feel its relationship

With its herd

Feel its rage

Feel its anxiety

Feel its freedom

In the wild

Dream what it dreams

See what it sees

Feel what it feels

Under its skin

Your hand will know when it is ready

When its spirit course through your vein

When tears well up in your eyes

As you touch the soul of the royal beast

The Newspaper Boy of Myanmar.

I've had just enough time to...   acknowledge the newspaper boy of Myanmar.

Taken on the way to the wholesale market outside Yangon, Myanmar

My Boy

He dreams

Of striking it rich and

Buying me a house to live in.

My Boy

He worries

About my health and

Saving to buy me new crutches.

My Boy

He wishes

To give more than love and

Love all the more because it is all he can give.

Meanwhile,

He wakes up early

Sells newspaper at the traffic stops

And dream of better days to be.

Those Were The Days, My Friends.

I've had just enough time...  to drink to those good old days.

Taken in one of the cities in China that I could not remember after too many drinks.

Those were the days

When we toasted our dreams

With the crash of glasses.

Under the illumination of the streetlights,

We sang our pleasures

To the moonlight.

Those were the days

When tomorrow is always another day

Of a future that is too far away.

But the future is here today

And the beer taste no less bitter

Than those “good old days”.

 _______

Once upon a time there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two

Remember how we laughed away the hours

And think of all the great things we would DO

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way

La la la la la la

La la la la la la

Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days, My Friend

The Hawker's Answer to a Silly Question.

I've had just enough time to...   check a hawker's wares.

Taken in a busy street in Ho Chi Minh City.

What is a hawker’s thought

When she is not selling her wares?

When she is free to think,

What is her dream?

I asked what makes her happy

She says I can buy it for a dollar.

And when I gave her the money

All she gave me was a ripe mango.

_______

Vocation - Rabindranath Tagore

When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane,

Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"

There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take,

no place he must go to, no time when he must come home.

I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying,

"Bangles, crystal bangles!"

When Evening Comes.

I've had just enough time to...   enjoy another evening.

Taken along the esplanade of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

At the break of the day
When my dreams have come and gone
The memories will fade away
But I wonder for how long
Not too long

For I know when evening comes
And I hear the night-birds' tune
I'll remember where it all began
As we danced beside the moon

-Ken Hensley - When Evening Comes.

_______

When evening comes, it finds me most reflective

As if racing for meaning before the last rays of the sun

Disappear and darkness envelopes everything…