SINGAPORE, 1st Draft, A Selection From My Upcoming Book THE SUN LOVES EVERY PLANET PART II

 

When I arrived at the airport in Yogyakarta

After I returned from Singapore

I searched through a throng of brown faces

But I didn’t see you;

I saw men with dark hair in batiks and sandals

I saw women with brightly colored hijabs with skirts down to their ankles

I saw children laughing and running around

I saw men in uniform with guns on their belts

And there were taxi drivers lined up in their shirts and trousers

Each one with an expectant look on his face

As they approached me and asked if I needed a ride

But I didn’t see you

 

Then, your eyes met mine as the oppressive heat filled my lungs

The noise, the people, the smell of exotic spices and cigarettes and pollution

Faded away

There was only you and me standing there

Looking at each other as though we had never been apart

I don’t remember who smiled first

I suppose it doesn’t matter

We were together again

 

As we walked towards the train station

Your hand took hold of mine

It reminded me of the first time we met

That night in Jakarta

 

It reminded me of that night we sat by the ocean

It was just before the sun was beginning to set

The sky was heavy with thick clouds and the wind was strong

As the wind blew through our hair

The sky grew darker and darker as

We sat on batik mats eating shrimp and fish and rice

That we had picked out inside the decrepit building

Where men stood over open flames burning wood

The spice was perfect, not too much, not too hot

As we drank our coffee we watched boats sailing as the waves crashed to shore

The sound of all that mystery

Carrying dreams to shore from places unknown

Ancient places

 

You talked about Bali

And all the things you want to do there

As we sat watching the trains pass us by

In the darkness of the night

I was with you and yet I was still in Singapore

It was still moving through me

The faces that I had seen at the airport

The planes flying overhead

The people lounging at café’s

The armed guards patrolling the terminal

The shops selling everything from perfume to watches to liquor

The

The different languages that I heard being spoken

As women with skin the color of coconuts hurried past me…..