Traveling Makes One a Poet

I have been writing poems in many of my trips. Is it distance from one's home, from work, from one's usual environs that makes the heart flicker? Or is it the novelty of the place, viewing something from a different vantage point, or merely the emptiness of the space that leads to the overflowing inspiration to write those lines that rhyme? 

Whether immersed in a local scenery away from home or trotting around the market in some foreign land, there is something in me that is awakened - an acute awareness of things - steering my pen towards creative writing...

Here are some of my poems that were written by the beach, while trekking on high mountains, or while feeling cold in a city far away from home....

On the 24th of March 2013, the mountain people of Nepal inspired me to write about kindness...

A Trekker's Meditation on Kindness

Each beautiful

Himalayan mountain

Bares itself to the soul

Of every trekker

It shows magnificence

As well as magnanimity

So much kindness

Shown each step of the way

My heartfelt thanks

To those who cleared the way

Those who lay down each stone

Upon which the trekker's foot finds stability

To the trees whose roots

Hold the ground

Keeping the soil firm

Making the path passable

To the flowers that adorn the way

Inspiring the weary

Calling upon each trekker

To smile, even a weary one

  

To the melodious birdsongs

Each note fills my heart with deep joy

Each sacred flight

Is a beautiful sight to behold

To the green moss that hug

Each branch, twig and trunk

The shapes tickle

Each trekker's imagination

To the sun that warms

And melts the ice and snow

It shares its breathtaking sunrise and sunsets

To everyone, excluding no one

And to each of the mountain people

They teach me faith and gentleness

In these harsh conditions they make me ask

Is there anything to complain about?

Getting dressed in traditional clothes

Having breakfast with a view of Machapuchare

He managed a little smile...walking up the mountains is no easy task...

A Nepali woman harvesting firewood

Transporting chicken from the lowlands to the uplands

A reward after a long tiring walk

On the 13th of February 2013, I was in Sabang, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. I spent hours listening to the sound of the splashing waves...and so this poem was born...

Cast Your Nets, Then Trust

When I am worried

I let the sounds of the waves

Drown out fearful thoughts and anxieties

When uncertainty arises

I ride on the waves

With glee and childlike abandon

  

When my mind asks too many questions

I savor the sight of the mist above the waters

Gradually fading till clarity sets in

When I feel panic boiling

I am reminded that every raging water

Comes to a standstill, slowly calming down

When I feel lost and directionless

I trust in the flow of life

And know that I will be washed ashore

Observing tiny waves at the shore

Waves at sabang beach

Going into the underground river 

Walking along the beach from our forest walk

Boatman ferrying tourists to and from the underground river

In the dark underground river

Interesting shapes inside the cave

On our way out of the underground river

Monitor lizard in Sabang 

Yehey!

Oops I should secure my scarf!

Zip line at Sabang

And recently while I was in Germany, on the 5th of November 2015, I wrote this poem in Prenzlauerberg, Berlin, Germany about love that neither fades nor gives up even in the harshest season of the lovers lives...

spring blossoms in autumn

will you love me 

from spring, summer, winter

especially during fall

when my hair is greyish

my vision is blurry

and the walk from zero 

to whichever higher number 

has to be slow 

punctuated by pauses

long enough to catch a fly

when you still love me in the season 

when your attention is drawn

to the obvious, undeniable

indisputable alteration

of my physical existence

our winter will be a place and time

like ordinary days

when we both could brush each other’s hair

or run after each other

on our climb up and down 

the staircase, the hills

the beautiful valleys

of a life lived joyfully together

yes, we can assure each other

there will be the wintertime

but this need not be 

a bitter, cold, dark winter

for when you still love me

in the fall 

when I am remolded

not out of my own volition

but of nature’s own doing 

you will understand 

that even in the impermanence 

of our corporeal selves

our love is deep enough 

to enable us to walk lovingly 

alongside each other

through the harshest season

of our lives

i may slowly forget 

what joys the blossoms of spring

brought into our lives

and one day I will only faintly remember

the indulgence summer tempts us to

in the autumn I may have merely 

fragments of the memories 

of our meaningful walks and long talks

even then…

when our love is always in season
and our affection has grown roots 

deep enough 

no disturbance  

could forcibly shake

no snow nor ice is burdensome

the winter will just be like summer

and the autumn is the spring

that makes love blossom
in eternity...

Relishing the beautiful autumn colors

A pair of autumn leaves

Reddish - fullness of autumn

Taking a break - from a walk in the forest

A lake in Poland that I also visited

I leave you now with these three poems...

May you be inspired to write those lines wherever you may be!