I belong here

I belong here forgetting who I am

remembering I leave tomorrow for the southern hemisphere

after Creole hoodoo foodie immersion at The Palace Cafe

Canal Street a stream of people wearing summer rather well

New Orleans rain soon steams so Spanish moss drinks more air

I belong here remembering San Francisco sun and stun

walking into the sky and Modernist hoorahs hellos wowees

Natasha and I spilling tour talk for gigantic works in space

secrets around blue and yellow plates more useful than a tablecloth

I belong here where you disappeared but stayed put

I'm banking goodness and saving for my life

rollercoaster freeways in Seattle flanked by soldier evergreens

disappointment and knowing too much quite solved with pie

I belong where squirrels finally looked like rats with pretty tails

the B n B dolls house downstairs not haunted

a mysterious small town packed with safety

surrounded with corn and easy jokes and avoidance of difficulty

I belong there on a road trip rough over expectations                       

falling into real time without warning

 

knee joints complaining about age and the silence of pain

junk food scenery and increasingly larger crucifixes

I surely belong in Graceland admiring the Jungle Room

Memphis hotel swimming pool shaped like a ukelele or bass guitar

Lennon said before Elvis there was nothing - billboards say so

then riding into Lake Charles and Houston we half melted

I belong where my mother's cowboy songs met Louis Armstrong

laughter a jam with peanut butter percussion

breakfast or any meal less complete with TV news

and true love appears a little worn out like favourite luggage

I belong in the French quarter singing Janis Joplin late

fanning myself with a pink Japanese gift

thinking how beautiful men are at night and a distance

or so close they almost inhabit you and then windows open

 I really do belong where the waiters treat me so kindly

losing a few kilos in relaxation to hover just above my seat

glad I found that amrka could disappoint and sadden me

before the fantasy turned into a lurid painting on a black van

and yes I belong making mistakes and learning more history spells

gradually coming to a standstill delighted with blueberries

watching people make original moves unaware of their own beauty

every day and ordinary - they transcend ideals with surprise

O I belong where I am at any time from this moment

because anywhere amrka lets me be myself and engulfs the acting

brave because I'm terrified of everywhere but I still go out

taking my place and collecting words for giving

And I belong knowing I'm not ashamed of my feelings

nor thinking someone else's to blame for my infinite world within

cosmic or elastic the lone anybody view

a pulse gives away every attempt at statuary

we belong together like any natural gang-creature - say hedgehogs

a little worse for wear such as with favourite toys

the world plays with us and flings our precious selves downstairs

we're in a 1930s B movie in tight costumes or monster suits

true - belong where we are at any time and we love each other

the alternative's close to denying beauty even with venetian blinds

simply in the business of art and solitude transforming irritants

including our view of anyone anywhere any time and ourselves

*

I fly back to New Zealand tomorrow, 23rd July 2014, thank you to everyone who I visited with, and good luck to us all.

Thanks for reading, and please do check out my latest novel here, www.amazon.com/Glam-Rock-Boyfriends-imaginary-memoir/dp/0473266644 

or my home page www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/alexanderraewyn.html and also this latest poetry book from Random House features my work, it's on the best-selling list at present - www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/siobhan-harvey-harry-ricketts-and-james-norcliffe/essential-new-zealand-poems-9781775534594.aspx

Comments welcome.