Friday, July 14, 2006

The Exodus Song

Today, Yu-Jin drove us to the Prisons in his neat little powder-blue Getz.

As he rolled the windows down and turned the radio up, I looked outside, and the afternoon poured in. We zig-zagged through other cars and crowded streets before turning off onto the highway.

Gradually, the buildings thinned into neat bungalows punctuated by the occasional school and the scent of clean grass. Children ran about on the fields kicking soccer balls, shouting at each other in voices louder than the flourescent yellow of their bibs. Trees spread out on either side of us like huge green umbrellas, their shade dappling my face and lap. The macadam hummed beneath the tires, backlighting the soft rhythm of the jazz drums.

Still, we drove on, slipping into the suburbs where the huge glass behemoth of an ITE blurred by us. Housing blocks loomed in the distance, their sides peppered with flags and washing drying in the sultry afternoon sun. Now and then, an open field would burst into vision, taking me by surprise.

Along a little slip road terrace houses sat cheek-by-jowl. Red Chinese gates framed by stone lions sitting on the posts bled together with little western porticos woven with hanging plants. An old lady stood on her tiled driveway with her white Spitz. Like art, the trees continued to fly above us, sprinkling arpeggios of the sun across the windows.

The air glowed golden and I felt my body gently suffuse with an unspeakable warmth and ease.

It wasn’t the manicured aesthetic of the Australian farmland or the vast greatness of the American plain. Yet, there was an indescribable beauty in the light, music and the water-shadows of the leaves.

Here was a secret magic that only I could understand.

And against my better judgement, I felt my heart fill with love for this country.

1 Comments:

Blogger Girl said...

Hey babe... good to hear from you! :) Glad you liked it... and I hope you don't miss home as much as we miss you!!!

8:55 pm  

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