The Walk: part two

So, I'm going on day 4 1/2 now. The last two days have been incredibly fast paced. Actually the day that I last posted, I officially decided to burn some asphalt. So, I picked the main highway, not the coastal road, and I booked it. I started power walking down the highway, which must have looked hilarious. Some crazy white guy swinging his arms as far and as fast as he can while looking like some reject tv host from the discovery channel. Well, wouldn't you know it, the road ended. There was construction and a detour sign, but I wasn't going to have it. NO WAY, JOSE. I kept going through the construction. As it turned out they were building a new road and not repairing an old one. So,  half an hour later I end up in the middle of nowhere. There's just me, a bunch of dirt and one gigantic bulldozer and a whole lot of country. I trek through the mud and see a village off to my right. So, I go for it.

Whoa-la, I turn into the village and I'm staring at the best thing I could have stumbled across, a pizza joint. I brush off the dirt and smile my ass off. "Well, Jay, We're having pizza".

After the pie, I have to truck it in the now downpouring rain for 8 kilometers. Finally, I get to the point of the map that I had settled on, 38 kilometers from where I had started that morning. I was in so much pain. I would start to get dizzy if I looked down. I found the closest motel and went to a sauna. I soaked there for a hour and then ordered some ramen and crashed.

The next morning was pure sun, and I got up ready for a new stretch. Surprisingly the Southwest coast is stunning in comparison to what I had seen. These huge barley fields were getting pulled by the heavy winds. They were strong winds too. I felt like I was fighting to move. Horses were everywhere along the coast that day while old ladies bent over in their fields working.

Later that day, I lost my hat in the winds, which wouldn't be so bad except that I hadn't put sunscreen on my head. I decided to dodge the late afternoon sun and give my bald noggin a rest, so I went to the SEX AND HEALTH MUSEUM. Wow, it was so cool. There were all these ancient artifacts depicting sex from earlier cultures. Plus, there were lots of exhibits dedicated to newer health issues like HUMAN DOLLS and AIDS. There was a giant exhibit on japanese anime characters too. It was really cool. It was funny to watch the korean women get embarassed and then try to steal second peeks when they thought no one was looking. One Korean woman found a sex video they were showing. She said "porno" and walked away, but she kept wandering around in circles and then looking when the hall was empty.

Finally, I came across a seaside road that ended with these giant cliffs that met the raging sea. That day, yesterday, was so windy so the waves were crashing on the cliffs hardcore. I had seen a map and knew that I was looking at a 10 kilometer hike around it and on to where I was going for the night or a dangerous rock climbing stunt that looked like a lot more fun. I could actually see Jungmoon, the city I had planned to stop at for the night, from the rocks' edge. There was no way I was going to walk 2 1/2 hours to get there safely when I could just risk my life and get there a lot sooner.

So, I walked along the teetering rocks. Almost busted my ass a few times. Then the walk got really narrow and really wet and waves were crashing on me as I held on to the wall and found my footing. I was drenched and in the middle. Either turn back or go and be ready for anything. I went ahead. Busting a knee along the way, but safely meade it to a staircase owned by the Hyatt hotel there. I looked like hell, but I just walked up those steps pretending to be a guest. Everyone looked like they had walked out of a Lacroste commercial and I looked like a stunt double for crocodille dundee. I got up to the front desk and smiled, asked for directions to a restaurant I had heard about. The adorable Korean receptionist quickly led me out to get a taxi. I wasn't sure if she was being so helpful because she believed I was a guest or that she didn't want the other guests to be startled by the dirty bleeding white guy.

6:57 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The Walk: Part One
Category: Travel and Places

I think I mentioned that i'm going on a hike around the 200 km island that I call home. Well, it's day three and I'm tired.
 
My bike ride through central america seemed a lot faster. That's for sure.
 
 I've walked so far it seems and yet it seems like I'm getting nowhere. The first day i got a late start, so i just walked for four or five hours and then took a taxi home. It's hilarious: I walk five hours. Taxi home costs $6. (needless to say the taxis here are super cheap). The next morning I took a bus to where I had stopped. That was Yesterday morning. I walked all day and had three really great moments. The first, I ate in a restaurant shaped like a flying saucer. i know back home that would seem not so special, just a marketing ploy - but here, that is just weird. Secondly, I was walking through a village when an old fat man saw me. I was shirtless, so he could see my belly. (I've gained a little around the middle while here) He laughed and pointed at me. Then he patted his belly and laughed loud enough to shake the village. Then he gave me the thumbs up and kept walking. I laughed about that for a while. Lastly, I discovered this ancient walk way along the cost. The island is largely basalt, so these giant  Basalt walls poured down all around this beautiful seaside path. There were two staircases that resembled ancient greek buildings. Super long and white rock. The stairs led down to the water. It was so surreal.
 
So, today i start my third day of walking. I'm heading to a really famous beach here that I've never seen before. So, I'm pretty excited.
 
Oh, and I ate the worst fried chicken of my life last night.
 
See ya,
Jay

6:53 PM - 1 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Upset Stomach
Category: Writing and Poetry

It's loose again,

The organ on the right;

Below my ribs, above my hip.

Knocking around, sloshing then rolling

Wringing my stomach against.

9:35 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Untitled (from the boat days)

We floated on ghosts. Floating

on the night's water and I spooked

under the smell of saltwater & fresh

coffee.

2:18 AM - 7 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Beyond Her Reign

뛰쳐나가다:

When the wind shifts

into that stale lonely state,

where rocks

fill your belly 

hunger

encompasses the bricks,

thoughts spread out like dead desert highway.

3:59 PM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Sailing Blind (another old one from my boating days)
Category: Writing and Poetry

The fog dropped us in her envelope

          licking the seal

and the water became fog

           &  the fog water

eclipsing our bow and stern

so all i could see was the cabin

          and beyond the cabin

laid only a thick soft soup of her

3:31 PM - 8 Comments - 16 Kudos - Add Comment

mountain morning (an older poem from my boat days)
Category: Writing and Poetry

Sleep doesn’t exist in coffee

Warm creamed coffee and steam

Where winter warms over and blood

Begins to snuggle with skin.

3:12 PM - 6 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

With Friends Like These: Drinking Alone

"Why don't you stay and have a beer?"

I asked.

But

The door closed & I sat there in the kitchen. Hearing:

His dragging gait cross the pebbled ground.

That metal creak of car door.  

Cough of  ignition.

I tapped out a cigarette watching his headlights

paint the kitchen wall & dim.

We used to be close.

& then time came making a mess of things

That cruel sister of space,

Distance.

It's been a long time coming.

I hefted my weight. Pushing up from the table.

Walked in the dark and found the radio.

I reached over and opened the refrigerator.

Sighing out, thought Fuck It,

Grabbing another one.

.

3:57 PM - 6 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Read me at www.killpoet.com

Killpoet, a rad lil word fest, chose one of my poems and put it as the first piece in their newest online issue. Damn, that’s sexy.

check it out: www.killpoet.com

4:14 AM - 5 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Some update of sorts: Me and Korea: On Shopping
Category: Travel and Places

Hey guys,

I’ve been a bit wrapped up with posting my journals online, so I haven’t done ya much justice regarding Korea and what its like here.

On shopping:

One thing that is really weird is the sales clerk. Back home, an approaching sales clerk resembles some fire breathing dragon destined to ruin your afternoon. So, U can imagine my immediate frustration when i tell you the following: Here, sales clerks are expected to guide your shopping experience step by step. For example, When you walk into a store, a clerk will walk up to you and shadow you the entire time you look around. Imagine, going through a rack of sweaters while a complete stranger stands next to you watching your every move. The minute you stop and look at something, the clerk will grab it and start telling you about it. The minute you give any sort of information regarding what you are looking for, the hands start grabbing everything on the shelf that slightly resembles what you mentioned. I just tell them to go away the minute I walk in, and they don’t seem to understand.

The other day, my little lady and I went shopping for DVDs. I’ve been studying Korean movies, writing down the Korean subtitles and learning the expressions, improving my listening and whatnot. Well, I wanted her to recommend some movies. (Remember, this was my first shopping experience with a Korean. I would have waved the clerk away immediately but was totally not ready for what happened next). The clerk knows me because I’ve shopped there a few times, but you could see a wave of relief cross his face when he saw Kate, my Korean girlfriend. He immediately approached her with questions. She stopped dead center, not even looking at the shelf, and told him why I was shopping for DVDs. He started pulling things off the shelf, and she’d look mildly satisfied but then turn to me and say, " its not good." Meanwhile, I was busy actually scanning the shelves. So, after ten minutes of the guy showing Kate movies and her not liking any of them, she told me that everything they have is old. My eyes got big as saucers in amazement and laughed in awe, " but you didn’t even look". Her face just went "all confused" as if I was denying what had happened over the last ten minutes. I just laughed at it. You have to laugh at culture clashes. Its just a deadend. Later, I tried to explain in the cab, how shopping culture is different in our countries. She stared at me blankly when i explained how Americans shop. "But... that’s "their" job." is all she could say.

ALSO: shopping for clothes is a nightmare. Westerners are typically larger than your average Korean. Sizes here are a little different too. I would never be able to fit into an adult small here, but back home, that was the size of most of my t-shirts.

So, one day I discovered a vintage shop with a huge stack of wranglers and levis. I was in heaven. I immediately started rummaging through it all, grabbing every 32 waist I could find. Surprisingly, the sales clerk didn’t approach me either. I couldn’t believe my luck. This really was heaven. So, i approach the dressing room with the biggest smile ever. The woman outstretches her arms for the pile, which I give her. She begins to go through it making a different pile. I watch confused and think maybe she’s counting. Finally, she points to the jeans and says the Korean word for NO. She crosses her arms into an x across her chest, which is Korean body language for NO. I stammer. I don’t understand. Then she says one English word: SMALL. I am flabbergasted. Is she calling me fat? So, I turn around and show her the label of the jeans I’m wearing: 32. Then grab one of the jeans I want and point defiantly at the 32. She again crosses her arms and says: SMALL. I can’t believe it. So, I start spouting off Korean, which scared her. I then grab a pair of jeans and say: WATCH!!!. I go into the dressing room, and the second pair fits perfectly!!!! I walk out and she doesn’t believe it. She even checks the label. I was so mad and so proud at the same time, I boldly slammed my money on the table and walked out. I didn’t even take off the jeans. I looked at her with a disgusted face and crossed my arms in front of my chest as I left the store. NO!!

Obviously, shopping can be frustrating, but lots of other things are great here. I’ll post some more soon. I’ve got to go teach a class.

Cheers,

Jay

3:23 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Probationary Dating
Category: Writing and Poetry

i found

under her boned down frame

a tiny fire tended to cinder and ash

and she stopped calling.

5:57 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

A taste of Stanley Kunitz
Category: Writing and Poetry

I don't know how many of you have read much Stanley Kunitz, but I can definitely say The Man is Good. Here is the beginning of his poem: Halley's Comet. I really want to write this well someday. That's probably impossible. I hope you track down the rest of the poem for yourself.

Halley's Comet

Miss Murphy in first grade

wrote its name in chalk

across the board and told us

it was roaring down the storm tracks

of the milky way at frightful speed

and if it wandered off its course

and smashed into the earth

there'd be no school tomorrow.

2:32 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Vignette - Port LaFourche

The boats sneaked into the night

while we sat on the jetties

watching the sun turn back,

listening to the rockslap water.

2:01 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Poems I Scrawled on Napkins Back in College
Category: Writing and Poetry

1.

She passed by

cooing giggles both

brilliant & lewd, while I

blushed & passed

yet kept looking back

at her

2.

Good solid legs,

perfect for stretching nylons

& kissing, connecting all my favorite parts

together.

3.

dead again.

sweet stinking balmed out

good morning joe in a paper cup,

and I've got to smell and taste and comprehend

the day.

5:24 AM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

THE BREAK-UP
Category: Writing and Poetry

I walked away

From the pool, the fight,

That moment you said, "let's take this

Day by day." I bolted.

I pawned my amps, guitars, sold off

My record collection, books. Left you standing in my

Rearview mirror. You were wearing a dress, crying.

And I was alive, popping, electric, running

Street lights. Lit like a kid caught in a summer's crush.

Mad dashing for the interstate with you left alone and beautiful

Waving goodbye miles from my mind.

10:35 PM - 11 Comments - 18 Kudos - Add Comment