light beam

Painting on Light Ground, 1916 By Wassily Kandinsky

By Natalie Anderson

In the alley, I see your blue eyes searching

You hop in the back seat with two bags crisscrossed your chest

and we reflect

on how much we have to converse about

then

share the whole highway 

in silence

as wind warps wide-open windows.

Catching the carelessly created concrete curves,

I watch you inadvertently

in the rear-view mirror

Clutching newspaper over your head

like a shawl

to your cheeks

“For insulation!”

you holler, harshing each syllable.

We arrive tentative to the space

There is a gate

Unlocked

A garden

It is one radiant day

to be alive with you, 

my friend.

The afternoon ripens, and we trail off to Patel Brothers

For your select goods tried by time

We walk through an opening door,

A prism

channeling golden sunlight as it filters through the produce section

overflowing in the colors of sugar cane,

turmeric,

dragonfruit,

mango…

Spices shifting spaces by knowing hands.

Home to your doorstep at dusk

where a laundry line hangs empty and potted watercress grows out grocery baskets

You tell me how well the neighbor girl waters her tomatoes

and how you’ve yet to meet her.

Wisteria’s wandering down the archway in dusky purples I grasp

as I trip on my way out of the courtyard,

carrying your gifts of sweet flowers and tahini.

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Natalie Anderson is an environmentalist, agro-ecologist, musician, and writer. She completed a degree in Environmental Studies and Agroecology at UC Santa Cruz. Natalie has much respect for the creative minds around her, inspiring the launch of the Baram House.