Architecture and Childhood Memories

In the brazenness of architectural practice

I sometimes have a nostalgia

for the scenes and sentiments of my childhood

a loneliness with an unidentifiable pain

soothed by a low mist

over a calm sheet of water

by the sound of unseen birds

in the vast emptiness of the desert

by sunsets and their purple reflections

on the mirror of the China Creek

and by images

of flowers, flowers and flowers

on barren soil

mirages of scorching deserts

in the lush green futility of life

The smell of earth

hungry, thirsty and bare

drenched by an accidental storm

and the earthen ware jars

sweating in the heat

and the monsoon winds from the South-West

with which came the dowhs to the native jetty

and my tears at their leaving

for reasons then unknown

as I watched them sail away

How do I reconcile all this

with bathroom tiles and kitchen cabinets

and with transforming power and image related desires

of an unjust and cruel society

into space and form?