Small cities

Small cities
with your big people
and big hearts
how generous and quaint are your ways

I smile as I recall
those bygone days
in those chilly cities
where pine trees soar
in cloudy skies
giving off their sticky sweet scent
the fragrance I love so much

and that wonderful birdsong
that accompanies you wherever you go
in small cities
with big people
and big hearts

how delightful that waft of smoke
that rises from your houses
as meals are prepared over fires
after a long day's work
I catch a whiff and smile
in small cities
with big people
and big hearts

and how cheerful those early morning monkeys
that climb onto the aluminum roofs
hungry for a bite of fruit
from my hand
I shall miss and savour each memory
of those small cities
with big people
and big hearts