Traveller

The night I left
A bat flapped across my path;
And wherever I went
I saw them.

In Australia,
Scattered across the shark fins
Of Sydney Opera House;

In India,
A strange black rain
Pouring upwards
Before the Buddha's eyes;

And in Thailand,
Glimpsed in the distance at dusk,
Rising from underground caves like
Columns of smoke:

The Earth's own incense burning.