Batanes Islands: beyond words…

So what they say is true….
Batanes does not look like our usual islands,
even though it’s part of our islands and homeland

just more pristine, and well,
breathtaking.

Reaching here, miles away from home….
Batanes seemed like another world,
if you knew what ‘another world’ means –
no phone calls, no deadlines, no texts;
no honking, no cursing, no madly crossing the streets;
no coffee shop chic or Wi-fi fix;
no counting the hours, or rushing through crowds….

just being with you
suffices.

You said time stood still here.
I say, time passes by here
in graceful flowing motions
like a ballerina’s pirouette
or the placid course of a river stream.

It wouldn’t be hard to put on canvas really,
because it seemed they lived their life
dreaming through the windows of their sturdy stone houses,
even though most of the houses didn’t have windows to begin with.

When our three days turned into six
then ballooned into nine,
I just had to believe the crazy Zen reason why we stayed here –

to just enjoy the moment.

(to be continued)