Gathering

I take a moment to gather my thoughts: gather like flowers the color of marigold mornings and the ripest strawberry, the yellow of sun-showered dandelions and the green of the newest leaf. Rain could fall and I would be happy, eager to play barefoot in the rice paddies with the children. Women dressed the color of jewelry shops kneel on the earth with artisan hands, transplanting single shoots of rice to hew homes in the luscious mud pools or the terraced hills. Would they feel surprised at my eagerness to know them? Communicating only with shining eyes and laughter? Or am I romanticizing the possibility and they would, of course, assume that I arrive to make business and take photos? I take a moment to gather my thoughts: gather like flowers the color of marigold mornings.