good morning viet nam!

precipitation!
babar is covered with a plastic bag
as i hobble to the bus stop..
i know i am looking like the homeless one ..
damp and dewy..
no laundry for days..
there is a fragrance i can't seem to shake..

with wings on my fingers
and tarps on my toes....
i meet gerry j.
who keeps me company all
the way to santa rosa..

i get to rendezvous
with will and joann
as the sun comes out..

we have known one another for 30 years.
we met in tahiti at a yoga class!
i was married to my first husband
in their living room!
will, who we call buddha is a 'zennie'.
joann halima is a sufi.

we slip into our comfortable friendship
as i slip into halima's bathrobe!
every single everything in my pack
must be washed..
(including babar; who
we tie up in a pillow case
in case his innards fall outward!)

we break bread together,
discoursing the well..
deep subjects..
love and faith,
giving and receiving,
fear and courage..
we investigate the el camino pilgrimage in spain..
as i question my capacity
for walking across the u.s. of a.
as they question my safety
on the highways and biways.

perhaps i require more practice
on trails and footpaths that are
mapped out for just that..
rather than the fast and vast
roadways of america..

the river of doubt is flooding,
the cup of faith is leaking,
the ribbon of highway is crumpling..

upside down,
i place my heart where my head is..
saturating the central channel
with csf..the rain nectar..
refresh! refresh!