Looking up at a foreign sky between palm leaves,
I find a closeness I didn't imagine here.
My world has not moved, but I have literally turned myself upside down.
And not see the stars on the opposite side.
I hear the flatness of an island surrounded by coral.
I taste the smoke of an umu and
fall in love with a lazy Tongan Sunday afternoon.
I smell green everywhere and a constant mist of the blowholes.
The repetition of the waves will continue when I'm gone.
I hear church choirs sing in harmonies not written in the book.
I learn food lasts today only and people are worth more than things.
A mother pig walks across the road
as I'm dodging potholes, learning to drive on the other side.
My fears of the future are smashed between two rugby players and
drowned with loud laughter.
I find new freedom and direction
hitch-hiking in the back of old trucks,
feeling the wind and real life.
Staring at a perfect sunset I find my humanity:
hoping to keep a moment forever - I know won't last outside my head much longer.
I've climbed higher than a coconut tree
and seen the depths of the blue ocean.