First Impressions

Bare brown skin,

caked in the dust of a thousand feet,

All rushing around,

never a pause to breathe.

Draped in a riot of colors,

a patchwork of cultures and creations.

A dazzling discordance.

surrounded by assorted traditions.

Little odd shoppes and markets,

tucked in the sides of streets.

Selling an assortment,

Of foodstuffs and novelties.

And the temples.

Painted spires reaching skyward.

Engraved with the tales of ages.

Carvings of stories not longer told.

Face lined with cracks,

Blackened by bursts of petroleum,

blown from broken vehicles,

and the baking heat of the sun.

Jostling and gesticulative,

Never a pause to consider,

holding open doors,

for strangers.

But all too ready,

to swap questions and answers.

Teachers turning blind eyes,

to the trading of test papers.

Covered in contradictions,

and jumbled juxtapositions.

Moving through a system,

of systematic confusion.

Witnessing humanity,

in all its humors and hues.

New perspectives,

of how people live and choose.