Where I Wanna Be...

Dag... Tomcats and Kitties, I'm realizing more and more that I'm much more of a country-boy than I know. See, I was raised between South Carolina and Georgia; between Bettis Academy and Richmond County; between rural and urban/suburban. I love the city because I love activity. I'm young, and I like to know I can go out and do some urbanish things ya know? But I think somewhere inside me, I have the urge to go outside, get dirty, inhale the dust, and shout knowing that nobody will hear me. Don't get me wrong, I love where I am. But every now and then I wanna run wild like I used to when I was a kid.

But I'm a little different than I was when I was a kid tho. It's not the rural scene I grew up in that I'm looking for. You know where I wanna be right now? Lemme show you...

I wanna be in a spacious, wooden, dojo-like building with barely any walls except for a few sheets of rice paper. Make it in the late fall, when the leaves have all turned brown and fallen and the breeze is just above chilly and the air is dry. As the breeze rustles the leaves outside, it graces the halls inside and joins me as I sit Indian style at a low table. I'm pouring strong, piping green tea from a small kettle into a small cup; backwards, the way some Easterners do it. No processed sugar, only natural honey as a sweetener. But I don't like mine too sweet, so I settle for a half a teaspoon. I'm wearing a sleeveless cotton shirt and some baggy pants; not sagging, but a little large for comfort.

At the table with me is a wise old man with much experience. I tell him about my views and concerns, and he advises me, even agreeing with me at points to let me know I'm not as crazy as people treat me sometimes. We even get in a good game of dominoes, lol.

As noon approaches, I set off about my daily. I get in a little bit of training with the bokken (wooden sword) and go off in search of the familiars. As I travel up and down the dirt roads chewing on sugarcane, I see the are trees bearing nuts and fall fruits. I catch a friendly young lady trying to collect food in a basket, so I pitch in for a little while and we talk. We decide to meet up later on in the evening.

Meanwhile, I'm off to visit some friends of mine: a musician, a poet, a philosopher, and a comedian. We wander to the marketplace to meet people, namely of the female variety. We don't really get into anything though; we look at the shops, maybe buy a thing or two. Later, we find a place to sit and start tossing wits at each other, debating issues, telling jokes, and freestyling.

In the evening, we head back to my place with a group of people. I swing by the young lady's house I met earlier and invite her to join. The old man comes out, and for the rest of the night, we gather on the porch and the musician and I entertain the people. When the moon gets high, everybody clears out, and I close out the night in the moonlight sweeping off the porch while listening to the crickets.

Maybe the next day I'll wake up and plant somethin'. Yeah, maybe I'll be farmer and grow my own food. Who knows...


That's where I wanna be right now. But since I can't be there, I guess I'll settle for an open window.