He Morphs

he morphs

A plain ad in a now forgotten newspaper,
six months later there he is, on a plane out of Logan
to California and then on to the Philippines.
The first time overseas, he gets off the plane and
down the steps into the heavy August heat of Luzon

Here are new tastes
mango, papaya, adobo and San Miguel beer
here are new smells
sampaguita flowers, a bustling market and roasting sweet potatoes
here a new culture with things he doesn’t know
here a language unlike those he trudged through in school
with two words for “we”, with pre- suf- and infixes,
a language without gender, with a different mind set

Here a people with values differently arranged
first comes family and friends and then everything else
here he leaps into the culture without fear or prudence
here he learns about the customs, the language, the values,
here he changes

Here he learns to understand
here he learns people are
alike and unalike