Nothing is so strange as a stranger in a strange land - Camus

To watch and to wait,
To hear but miss nuances of conversation
Is to be alien and left alone
To draw conclusions that may be false.
To begin at the beginning because there is no end,
Sometimes adrift without worry,
Tossed in a small boat in stormy seas
Or floating without movement in still water.
Splashes of color along dusty roads,
Faces seared by the sun,
Flicking away flies and ants
Intruders in the small niches of calm.
Never fully here but certainly not there,
Never lost, yet neither fully found.

In the vast sea that is my universe,
I find small islands with clear water
Seek and find in the desert oases,
Heavy dates hanging from the palms
I snatch these stolen sweets and greedily eat
Ever aware, I tread lightly in the dark
And find my way, nourished and alone.
My colors are the greens and blues of the Nile
Oxidized copper and tarnished silver
I find beauty in the most ordinary things
And seek within my soul, the seeds of serenity.