OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

I took these pictures at an outdoor market in Indonesia.

We've been waiting for you, we’re so glad you’ve returned,
Please help us before our jungle’s all burned.
Our time here unravels faster each day,
We’re becoming expendable and hunted prey.

But what can we do?………There’s not much more time,
Our forests breathe fires ignited by crime.

It’s easy to kill or kidnap us for cash,
Why must they reduce our forests to ash,
And cage every rare creature like yesterday’s trash?

Is anyone out there or does no one care?
The bribes nourish nothing but disgust and despair.

Pongo Pygmaeus may soon disappear,
From Sumatra and Borneo without even a tear.
No one seems interested in preserving our lands.
The Dow Jones has many invisible hands.

We can vanish in an instant before your eyes,
Faster than the echo of the jungle’s cries.
We pray you’re not readying your last goodbyes.

Please don’t abandon us USA,
Give us your hand or we’ll just fade away.
We’ll breathe our last breath if there’s much more delay.

Our ancestors were born very long ago,
Even before Krakatoa decided to grow.
We’re much older than you, why you’ve just arrived.
Why’s the world a hostage to the trivial and contrived?

Who gains from all these ritualistic confusions?
And who loses consenting to these perpetual delusions?

What's the world feel like for those so often left behind,
Besieged by malaria, dengue fever, contagious diseases and blind.
And ignored by too much of self-indulgent mankind?

The world looks very different from high in the trees,
So who's exactly wiser than all of the seas?
And kings look no different than anyone else in the crowd,
Who are they kidding pretending to be proud?

Must we choose between death or the bars of some zoo?
So we decided to leave, it was difficult to do!

Our wandering has taken us so very far,
To Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney, and Qatar,
Kirchdorf, Paris, Beijing, and Bangalore,
But we still need more time to play and explore,
Did you know we share similar DNA and much more?

We travel in ways you cannot understand,
On virtual boulevards never planned,
To Belize and Belgium, England & Spain,
What happens if spring does not bring you rain?

From the plains of Africa to the great Niagara Falls,
It's often easy to hear Dhyaksa’s distant calls.
He’s glided on powerful and gigantic wings,
Far into the future where there are no kings,
And visited time itself before you had genes,
While the centuries transformed earth's shades of bluegreens.

We followed Gunito through monsoons for more than countless years,
Far into the distance where there are no fears.
And traveled the forests beyond the iridescent rainbows,
Successfully navigating tretcherous mountain snows.
To China, The Red Sea, and the sands of UAE,
There sure is an awful lot to see.

We've accompanied the Desert Princess, the distant Blue Moon,
Hope we can meet her again one of these days soon,
But we know she’d never ever forget,
To meet us even in the mountains of Tibet.
Or high on the sand dunes she used to roam,
Why even she feels sometimes sad and alone.

We live in your world but travel in ours,
We’ve already lived longer than some of the stars,
And traveled the rivers of your secret dreams,
As we sailed down an infinite number of streams.
And still we continue to Tokyo, Tunisia, & Mt. Everest,
Maybe we'll be able to visit the rest.

We have all the time and no time, do you understand?
Only you can invite us to visit your land.
But there are still many trees that we'd really wish to climb,
Will you give us that opportunity and plenty of time?

Hopefully we’ll meet you one of these days soon,
Just think of us every time you see the big Blue Moon,
Because we can never grow old .... and we’ll always be near,
You’ll know where to find us, if you wish us to stay here!

And if in the future we return to our trees,
With your great help we’ll experience our home’s tropical breeze,
Unless you tire to care and become bored to explore,
Then our jungle's shadow shall flee, and we'll be seen never more.