Full Tourist
I’ve been a tourist all my life –
Always passing through
Touring from here to there
Always trying to recall where
I am today and on to tomorrow.
I’ve been looking for a guide
To direct me in a language I know
(English spoken slowly, a little
Frence and of course
My high school Latin) spoken
Clearly and loud enough.
I’m a tourist taking selfies and
Buying post cards and souvenirs
To remind me where I’ve been
And all the things I’ve probably seen.
I’ve learned to live in and out
Of a suitcase, rummaging about
Through underwear and socks
Enough of both I’m always hoping
But never sure – just ask me.
I’m always a tourist planning my next
Excursion, out and back, next and
After that, every day, all day, smiling at
And wondering about all these locals
Natives of the place.
Packing Up
I picture you packing
A backpack, a carry-on
And you didn’t mention
Anything else, so my
Picturing will be limited.
A few weeks in Europe
Touring, sightseeing, and
dressed to the nines, as
I expect you will be, will
Need careful selecting
Folding and matching
One thing with another.
Walking through the Roman
Forum, sipping the right
Wine in a Parisian café
Standing in line for just
About anything this time
Of year, hottest it’s been
In Europe in recorded time.
Your backpack and carry-on
Left in that bed and breakfast
Your kids picked and there
You are – I can picture it –
Dressed for whatever comes
Your way.
Time Travel
We time travel, but not like Wells
In a machine going back or
Ahead, blurring centuries as
We find out what went on or
What will happen. No, the kind
We do, requires that we just
Sit back, stand back and let
It happen. It’s inevitable, so it
Needs no outside assistance.
We’re travel through time, going
Forward on the clock and on
The calendar, sometimes plunging
Ahead, sometimes tick-tocking
Onward, but always moving on
Shedding yesterday, disposing of
Last week, last year, and what it
All meant. We do carry ourselves
So things accumulate on us, in us
Follow us, become part of us. We
Never get to go back to relive and
Or improve on what happened in
Our past. We travel forward, but we
Don’t know when it all will end, don’t
Know when our clock unwinds or
When that last alarm goes off and
We can’t get up and start again.