Adventure

It’s adventure that runs through me,
The way I see life is what’s key.
I start at the end of comfort zone,
And end deep in the waters of unknown
By taking steps out of ordinary life,
Into homelessness, ghettos, or foreign strife.
I experience things other than common,
Just to rip life apart like cubes of Top Ramen.
Finding mirth jumping into another’s shoes,
tying the laces tight, running a mile, maybe two.
Not seeing it as a misadventure,
But rather, letting life be adventure.

â–º  QUARTER FINALIST 2012 TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP

My adventure of joining clans of the homeless
In eerily lit Golden Gate Park,
Where the lights of Haight District,
Make a contradictory light, yet dark.
Where they cherish their dog,
Radio, and shopping cart,
More than a house, money,
Or modern counterparts.
Where they talk of their old girlfriends,
And how they met 2Pac,
While throwing in the true meaning of life,
As philosophic as John Locke.

My adventure of discovering
Inner city ghettos of Ensenada,
With all the young children at my side,
Forming our own White/Hispanic armada.
Where the houses, constructed of
Multicolored plywood and windows of metal bar,
Created the out of bounds for a game of soccer,
While the goal was the side of a burnt out car.
Just as the kids living there,
I forgot the chaos surrounding,
And where I least expected, found bliss;
This, I found astounding.

My adventure of working in the orchards,
Or in the fruit packing house,
Where there is obvious cultural tension,
Where I’m as out of place as a nun with a spouse.
Then the ribbon was finally cut,
As the migrant workers realize
That when they joke and call me “Whetto”,
I’ll laugh, and use Spanish to improvise.
How I forgot they were field workers,
And how they forgot I was the farmer’s son,
Unveiled one of the truths of humanity,
That if you seek difference, there isn’t one.

This is the quality which I’m most proud,
An adventurous soul, that shouts ever so loud.
Adventure in the Present, some think impossible,
I make it easy, effortless, and plausible.
Its not discovering Sea Number Eight,
the America’s, or Magellan’s Straight;
But it’s adventure that widens my mindset,
So I’m not staring at only one side of life, just silhouettes;
The part of me that seeks and finds delight,
By abandoning my comfort zone and finding new insight.
Call it wonder, inquire, or curiosity,
I call it adventure, and it makes me, me.

Locations:

Haight / Ashbury Street, San Francisco

Esenada, Mexico

Venida Packing Inc., Exeter