The Simple Life I Live Poem by RIC BASTASA

An afternoon walk
Seeing the white birds again
On these green ricefields
And the carabaos wallowing
Refreshing their skins in mud holes

It is the beginning of the
Planting season again
The weeds are uprooted
The plows run again
To make this land arable
The rain comes and too
The sun and the wind

The hills are greener
The trees are blooming
And so are the flowers
Along the footpaths

My dog walks with me
And his friend dog too walks with us
The wind so cool touches my face

The man nearby pastures his carabao
The woman washes some clothes in the river
The waters are still clear reflecting bluer skies
There are no sounds of buses in here

Far from the city in this little village
Where people are still innocent about greed
And grief and self-made confusions
The complications, the sophistications

I can live on a cup of rice, this mudfish,
This glass of water from the rock’s spring
This big banana leaf on my head
And the moon above everything else
And some stars lighting this lovely darkness