I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!

two little diddys about my last couple of days in nepal. okay, so one long one and one short one. but enjoy.

MOCHI

walking through a sandpaper jungle
where the rhino beetles and soldier bugs call home.
A labyrinth towering overhead.
NO EXIT!
My throat as dry as the stalks.
"Pani dinus!," i cry.
Splinters cover my now rough hands.
Blisters, no, calluses.
I feel itchy.
My arms clothed in scratches.

It's like Christmas morning,
ripping into the packages
all neatly wrapped.
Big ones, small ones, crooked ones.
Mountains of husks
like piles of paper on the floor.
LIke the crisp leaves of autumn,
an open invitation.
Babu dives in.
The excitement of Christmas
has melted like the proverbial snow.

NOw it's factory work.
monotony.
the same motion
again and again,
day after day.
There is no end in sight.

4 years old, Chuck-E-Cheese:
fumbling through the ball pit,
sinking in a rainbow,
swimming through giant skittles.
Now its all one color,
yellow.
wading through a sea of gold

ready, set, go!
throwing the same colorful balls
into the can.
hands full,
eyes diverted from the target.
have to get as many in the can
before the lid closes.
all of that for just on ticket!

All of that for just one kernel!
In the kernels I see:
strings of pearls,
old rotten teeth
fit for george washington's dentures,
raindrops,
the endless desert sand,
the constellations fallen from the sky.
"look at the stars,
look how they shine for you."
add them up
and they'd equal the distance I've walked in Nepal.
the ears longer than the great wall.

ready, set, hike!
I'm a football star,
passing to the quarter back.
I'm the quarter back now
throwing into the end zone.
touchdown!
basketball star too, swoosh.

Building an alter to the gods,
an offering,
a pray to stop the rain.

the little ones look like grenades,
"heads up!" I shout.
never did understand
the meaning of that saying.
always thought it should be
heads down.

It's here!
come to rescue tired fingers everywhere.
The Thrasher!
It's confetti and snowflakes,
gumdrops and pixie dust,
the worst dandruff imaginable,
all falling from the sky.
its a frenzy, fun and fast.
rumbling.
the machine purrs, then stops.
finished.

bito, pop corn,
Buffalo feed, fou fou,
the possibilities are endless.
"eat just one row at a time"
jerman taught me.
it doesn't get stuck in your teeth that way.
counting ears of corn
as I fall asleep.
1-2-skip-a-few-99-one million.
If I never see an ear of corn again,
it'll be ample time.

BLACK

Black.
THe color of my feet.
The color of my boogers
and the dirt underneath my nails.

Black.
The color of sizzling pavement,
the color of exhaust
and burning tires declaring NO ENTRY.

Black.
THe color of hair.
the color of still nights with no electricity.
The color of my once khaki pants,
and yummy tea,
the highlight of my day.