HOME Ramblings about “Traveling”
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I’ve traveled all around the world
But not as
much as some
The most intriguing place I’ve been
Is the one
that’s yet to come
Some languages I understand
Some others twist
my brain
In some I manage to get by
In some I
speak in vain
I love to travel, to get going
Begin a new
adventure
To be someplace I’ve never been
To know, to
learn, not censure
The faces change, the voices too
Topography
revolving
But one on one we come to know
Each other,
problem solving
In one grand sense adversity
Is teacher
most effective
For children’s sake I’d like to make
The lessons
sans invective
No matter where I might alight
Whatever time
of day
The simple joys that people want
Respect and
time to play
Everyone is different
And every
one’s the same
Peel away the cover
Find hearts
and souls quite tame
The learning opportunity
Is vast and
stimulates
My mind to keep on growing
Next
encounter surely waits
The day is bright, a cloudless sky
The mood is
quite carefree
We ride along the desert floor
As flat as
flat can be
Sedona bound, we both agree
A trip that
seems worth taking
Maps perused, we talk and plan
A passage in
the making
From Flagstaff south route 89A
Forks off to
old Oak Creek
An ancient path, become a road
This canyon
we did seek
There comes a time we take that fork
According to
our choice
The scenery changes subtly here
Neither one
of us gives voice
The road inclines, the green is lush
Pine trees
stand tall and proud
Red rocks in the distance show
Blue skies,
an occasional cloud
At Vista Point on Mogollon Rim
We stop, we stretch, we rest
The canyon view is worth the trip
Ahead still
lies the test
Looking down on our next path
We scarcely
understand
Before we get to where we go
Our hair will
stand on end
The road drops fast and twists and turns
Skill is needed for the trip
The worst is seeing what comes next
While
surviving the current whip
Turn by turn, view by view
New vistas
better old
Pastel panoramas
Continually
unfold
Monoliths a thousand feet
stand red on either side
Point the way Sedona lies
A stone
river’s colored tide
When finally the road is flat
And green has
turned to red
The walls of Oak creek canyon end,
To Sedona it has led
Shopping done, stomachs full
Newly under
way
We’ll not return the way we came
Explorers we
will play
Jerome is just a circle
On the map so
innocent
Seems a place to visit
Time there
we’ve never spent
It’s on the way by shortcut
To the west
route we began
We’ll save some time to 40
We’re smug
about the plan
The road now steep, is serpentine
Guardrails
cannot be found
We’ll climb 3,000 feet today
Accompanied
by the sound
Of engine purr, transmission whine
As each new
turn does bring
A view to take the breath away
Up high, like
bird on wing
Suddenly the road has turned
We’re caught
quite unaware
Death defying auto path
An unexpected
scare
We seem to be suspended
By a thread
we cannot see
As up we climb toward heaven
No roadway…
cannot be
The pavement hasn’t vanished
Just narrow
underneath
The angle that our eyes make
Impossibility
does bequeath
The valley floors stretch out below
The breath, it takes from me
Nature is the artist here
With stone
and grass and tree
An ever changing kaleidoscope
Of pleasure
for the eye
A spiritual experience
Much higher
than we’re high
Out hearts will pound from fright and view
See heaven
then see hell
The beauty is astonishing
Too
incredible to tell
At last we find the town Jerome
Nestled on
the side
Of a mountain mining area
The streets
not very wide
We do not stop as we are anxious
To leave
before it’s dark
The roads we’ve come are treacherous
There is no
time to park
So on we go intrepid souls
Convinced the
worst behind
Surprise awaits us on the way
These hills
play games with mind
What seems a simple flatland run
Turns into
mountain fierce
A black behemoth in our way
The road we know
must pierce
But pierce is not the way designed
Up over we
must go
As bad as all we’ve done before
And worse
we’ll come to know
We negotiate the turns
And climb
toward deep blue sky
Now veterans, our skill serves well
Much calmer
we do fly
Like birds we circle up and up
Absorbing all
we see
An other worldly countenance
Comes over us
two, we
I know now how an eagle feels
Making
circles in the blue
A world seen pure, just bathed in light
Reflecting
colors, every hue
Now and then one special thing
Will call our eyes, to see
Experience much,
absorb not all
Jump from
glee to glee
The road goes on inexorably
As we to goal
proceed
Ash Fork is in the distance
To reflect is
now our need
Our hearts are filled with joy and light
Memories of
sights supreme
Experiences of adventure shared
We savor the
topping cream
Night has fallen all is calm
Sedona came
and went
What was the destination, then
Became a
passage lent
To share to know each others being
Sensitivities,
living need
We two as one transcend all fear
Of where our
lives will lead
Across the deep and wide Atlantic
Four fearless
travelers go
A brother and a sister take
Their spouses
there also
They settle in Siena as
The center of
their trip
Getting lost is daily fare
At each other
they do quip
The weather is unusually warm
Right clothes
they have not
The car is big by local standard
Twice hit the
flower pot
All across the Tuscan scene
They travel
to and fro
Day and night they lose themselves
Arriving
without woe
Surprises wait at every turn
This is a
test of skill
Police car gets its mirror kissed
A dog gives
us a chill
Early on one morning the
Shutters blow
in hard
Fling an ancient mirror to
The floor
that is so hard
Miracle of Miracles
The mirror is intact
Alas the ancient frame is smashed
From moment
of impact
It might be worth a million Lira
Perhaps a sum
immense
Should we try to make repair
Or pay
replace expense
Into the void goes one good soul
In search of
glue so good
Another plots the reconstruct
A third shave
shards of wood
To our surprise no pieces fit
Where we
think, they should go
We all conclude we’re not the first
This antique
to sever so
With craftsman’s care we cut and shave
Color,
blacken, glue
And when we’re done no one could tell
It broke, and
us to sue
Up and down the countryside
Amalfi to
Pompei
Go where wise men fear to tread
No agreement,
which the way
One does drive in such a way
Neck brace is
de rigueur
The other is a rocket ship
Keeps his
foot nailed to the floor
Exploring all the hills of Rome
Vatican,
Saint Peter’s too
Gout has downed one of four
A fire gives
two, room new
Pickpockets welcome us to Florence
On way to
David’s home
Food is good, silk is cheap
Palace Pitti next we roam
Burglars welcome our return
The villa is
a mess
We only worried for the wine
This I must
confess
It took about an hour for
Calm to us
return
And then to plan the next foray
This is our
life we learn
Homeward bound, the trip is over
Was it just a
dream?
Was it really paradise?
The slate of
now, wiped clean
I’ll have to wait for photographs
To see where
I have been
All those days behind the wheel
Only saw the
vehicle vin
(Across USA)
Mile after mile as the county unfolds
The beautiful sights, my attention holds
The country music playing loud
Seems to go with the blowing clouds
On the road I feel more free
So many places I’ve yet to see
Room to think, room to be
Eons smile from rock and tree
Time stands still, one can think
Edge of reality, on the brink
Answers come with crystal clarity
As if the air pure knowledge be
On the road I’m not alone
My friends are mountains made of stone
Or cactus waving from the cliffs
And sand dunes shifting, forming drifts
If I should do no more than look
What I feel would fill a book