That Stretch of Path

Written by Stephen Kagarise.

A wall of thin cinder
blocks, speckled
with mold and white
Buddhist swastikas
marks the bend in the path
uphill. Narrowing
past a concrete ruin and glass
paneled doors
the path is lined with
torn sand bags
coarse soil, broken glass
and bits of pottery
scrawled with blue
cryptic characters.

Round about here, glancing
down at the metal
drains, I remember
another path once
traveled in a
green, wet land.

There, the rock wall
wore a coat of thick moss.
A low stone house
with a walled-in lawn
sheltered yellow and red tents.
Stepping down
the rocky path, trees part
to reveal a curved bay
waves lapping and a hill jutting
out into the tumult
of sky and blue sea.