Floating in the Arabian Sea

A plane flies in from Mumbai
Another leaves from Delhi, and a third from Bangalore
All three crash into the Arabian Sea

The passengers are lost
Floating somewhere around Goa
Inhaling clouds of smoke and chemicals
Suspended in time and space

They’re getting sucked deeper into the funnel now
Further down through the ocean’s vortex
It’s that dark grey spiral
The sunken dancefloor of Larive

I can’t see their faces
Whether it’s a man or woman, boy or girl
I don’t care

I inhale the techno and get so high I float
Into a bay of brown arms and breasts
Each pair holds me tight, then passes me along to the next
Without judgment

Now I’m drifting down a jungle river
It’s winding past the hostels and cafes
I’m breathing in that smoky, Goa roadside smell
It’s been nearly six weeks now, floating

Finally I find my friends and they pull me ashore
We get on our bikes

Like ghosts we tear through the night
Past Pappi Chulo, past Area 51, past the cops (fuck them)
All the way to Curlie’s on Anjuna Beach

There, a girl with a strawberry face approaches
She takes my hand and leads me through the sea of people

“Tell me when it’s time to go,” she says
“Tell me when it’s time to breathe
 “You’re the only one that knows
“There’s a voice inside me.”

###

(* Cover photo and lyrics from last stanza: From P60 with Lisa Shaw – Magic)