He sees me everyday,
Greets me with the most wonderful smile,
A smile that touches the very softest parts of my soul,
A smile that reflects in his eyes as it does in his wrinkled face.
He doesn't pry or ask much of me,
He simply observes my comings and goings gently,
"You spend a lot of time alone" he says to me,
A peaceful caring tone of inquiry.
We are up early enjoying the peace of the morning,
Observing the majestic mountains as the clouds roll over like thick blankets of silk,
We listen to the birds and the patter of soft rainfall,
Experiencing some deep inner truth in the midst of it all.
The beauty of Pai as clouds and mountains collide,
A sacred space of being where I can neither be heard nor seen,
Solitude a place far from being lonely,
A place that neither wants nor takes anything from me.
Travelling alone has set something free,
I cannot contain this new found part of me,
My old familiar self has some permanency,
I fear I might loose this new balanced part of me.
"You know what you want to do" he says without ever having a conversation with me,
Non invasive non threatening raw honesty,
"I see you everyday, you have purpose, it beautiful" something he has observed in me,
Probably the most beautiful broken English that meant the world to me.
Time passes by here without effort,
The days flow into one long timeline,
Time in all its irrelevancy,
Pai has set something free in me.
