INTO THE ROCKIES

Due west, as we drive,

mountains, colored mostly from the red spectrum,

rise up in a line.

I feel a little like the captain

of a charging army.

The enemy won’t shoot

until they see the whites of my eyes.

The land’s been so flat until now

but, ahead of us,

the world no longer adheres to that lie.

My wife turns down the radio.

It’s like she wants to be able to hear

what she’s seeing.

Even in the back seat, boredom gives way to awe.

“Those are the Rockies,” I proclaim.

So I’m the head of an expedition now.

Once again, my team fail to recognize their leader’s genius.

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Response Ability

I would do anything

To trade places with that image

That I had in my head that I can’t write down

What I was told

What I heard

Left me speechless

And at the time words were essential

They should have been words of joy

Encouragement

Celebration

Rejuvenation. Congratulation

Friday the 13^th

We were still shouting at each other when I opened the champagne

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I’ll never tell

There is mass in my throat

I swallow

Don’t Choke.

The mass is still there

I’m still suffocating.

I can still breath?

My lungs still work. Surprising me.

What is this knot in my throat?

I know…

It’s the tangle of words I cannot bring myself to say

Choking me.

They clog my tears too

So I do not cry.

A damn.

Concrete

Poured down my throat until I can not speak at all.

Passing me in the street you would never know

I’ll never tell

Spin the Globe

Spin the World

Why this?

I picked the International Conversation hour because of my desire to travel. One of my favorite things to do as a child was sit in front of the globe we own, close my eyes, spin it, and drag my finger across the smooth surface until it slowed to a stop. I would then open my eyes and wherever my finger landed that’s where I told myself I would go.

Occasionally I had to cheat because, inevitably, my finger would land in the middle of the ocean. That intrigue and that wonder is something that I carried, and still carry, to this day. I want to know about anything that’s not the United States but, like most people, I don’t actively seek out more knowledge on the matter. To be perfectly honest, I am rather naïve when it comes to other cultures and countries.

Going into this I was a little nervous due to the positions I held. I am a white female who’s never been outside the South, let alone the United States. I do not speak any other languages, except for basic Spanish, and I haven’t been on a study abroad trip. The only thing that really put me “in with the crowd” was the fact that I am a Georgia Southern student, just like them.

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