confident

so here i am wandering around below the equator lookin' like Bob Dylan
got the Southern Cross over my shoulder
toucans and snakes and monkeys swinging from the branches above
colors erupting from the ground
tropical birds filling my ears

and i'm thinking: hey, wow, look where i am.
look what i'm doing/seeing/feeling/being/hearing
i'm hiking along a trail that i've never been down
i'm talking to people i will never talk to again
i have opened a door to a population i couldn't know before

lots of firsts here.

it's hit the point where you hurtle - full tilt - into it. i'm here and i'm content.
well-rounded and excited
exploring what's out there.


today i saw a green snake with a greener head, winding its tense, meter-long body up a tree.
you don't see that everyday.

i am finally comfortable here.
i am really very comfortable... well, besides the heat.
but even that, my skin is adjusting to, turning dark to keep the rays off

soon, though, i expect i will melt
be molded right into the burning asphalt.
part of me will get stuck here.
funny thought.

you get a lot of funny thoughts in Paraguay,
like thinkin about how maybe when you're older you'll dream bigger
or maybe you should just go ahead and buy that truck tire

or something like that.

that's how it is here,
at least,
that's how it is here,
for me.