In An Old Town By The Sea (Llastres, Asturias,2001) Poem by DM W

In an old town by the sea.
I am strangely moved by
The plangent cries
Of a Spanish guitar.

Stray dogs hungrily roam
The cobbled streets;
With wild, searching eyes.
They seem to mirror my state.

In the bustling marketplace,
The locals gather for warm connection:
Absorbed among the fish, the meats and spices;
And fashionable garments and bracelets
Some older, but wiser, withered faces
Look to night's stars for guidance

I came here to escape the fevered city,
Now I find myself in this torpid town.
But I am far from here; my mind
Still fixed on a million trivial things

I'm so tired of all the futile games
We're forced to play under the sun.

What is it that I'm looking for
On this retreat from routine life?
Perhaps Nature will open her arms
And embrace me like a long lost son.

In this toxic age of doubt
I desire the dreams of flowers.
I want to learn ancient joys and laments
That will bind me to the earth.

I understand in my bones
That there is no paradise;
Only fleeting illusions;
Fragments of childhood visions.

Some say that love is the answer.
But in the teeming, chaotic world
That we call love. there is no guide
And the archers are seemingly blind .,