Leaving LAX

the big plane lifted over

El Segundo leaving the lights of

Los Angeles like a million

pinball machines

lined up to the

black water Pacific shore…

I ordered a drink and some

warm nuts, started watching

a movie

and headed for London…

Visiting the National Gallery

Nelson stood atop his

column, looking

small and forgotten

as the waves of

tourists

crashed on the steps of

the National Gallery…

I got in line, showed them

my backpack with my extra

layers of jacket, and walked

into a room

fishy with underwater light

to pry secrets from the shadows

of Vermeer…

when I started to think that

maybe the only one

who ever really got it

right was

Francis Bacon, I knew it

was time to leave…

In Florence, Italy

we flew in over

the ridiculously beautiful

Tuscan countryside

to land with a roar

of reverse thrust

on the short Florentine

runway…

later, the sun was warm

on my cheek and

I looked at Brunelleschi’s dome

and wondered what it was like

for the bricklayers

350 feet up on a scaffold

made of planks and rope…

there were a million of us,

tourists,

running around with our

fashion designer shopping

bags, gazing in awe

at the sheer audacity

of the cathedral…

then we went into

one of the swanky

restaurants and got a plate

of rigatoni and a rich,

sour Chianti…