location, and dislocation

a dislocation

I know, somewhere in my head,

that we’re way Down Under,

today on the South Island of New Zealand,

for months I’ve imagined being here,

and I’ve imagined then feeling a profound dislocation of self,

I’ve imagined feeling upheavals in latitude and longitude,

and somehow noticing I’m upside-down,

compared to how I’ve been all my life,

all that, right now, seems distantly abstract,

the cold wind that blusters me? concrete. . .

the amazing seafood dinner? real and present. . .

sleep still calls me,

it’s tomorrow here, or yesterday back home,

a phone call to the States like time traveling into the past,

concrete experience is solid and thinking ideas is abstract, 

I can easily lose my deep disturbing ideas

in the choices and enjoyment of the senses,

the wind just now rips at me,

and I shiver and start to feel this moment.

by Henry H. Walker

February 29, ’16