Trips Abroad

Fear of Foreign Travel

You looked for skylines

To feel you had arrived

And narrow streets through which

we passed two abreast

And roof edges and gable walls

And mosaics of terra cotta tiles.

Otherwise the space was too

Wide. The foreignness of it all

Too great. The chattering

Throngs too unintelligible.

You felt like folding up,

Folding in on yourself.

Crouched in a hotel bedroom

You wanted to take the return

Flight home..... until

You angled your lens to the roof

Tops and shot corners and edges

Patchwork pieces of the big quilt.

And frame by frame

You settled into being there

Into Lyon

Into travel.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018