sovereign entrance

"please refrain from walking on the carpet,"

says a signboard in front of the hotel entrance.

so the red carpet was covered with a white sheet;

a sacred pathway prepared only for the sovereign.

i saw the signboard when i arrived there,

a hotel in cha am, thailand,

where we are assigned as the troupe from jakarta.

the rest of the work is done somewhere else,

another hotel located not very far away from the 'sovereign'.

this morning, before i entered the site,

my eyes fell upon a line of children sitting on the roadsides,

wearing their school uniform,

waving the flags of our nations: the southeast asians, and our friends'.

that sight reminded me of my days as a student in elementary school,

when i did the same.

look, there are more security officials than the town folks.

the emissaries are here now.

but the top leader is still about to arrive.

his excellency and his newly appointed minister.

so we are preparing for their arrivals and their schedules.

somewhere in this secluded location,

where the envoys meet.