when coming to Machu Picchu
many people call it a
‘bucket list trip’

to be there

to hike the entire Inca trail

it has also been called
‘a professional photographer’s dream’

and

‘spiritual’

but what happens when the busses
splattering mud
spewing diesel
cart tourists up and down that winding mountain road
all day long?

are we really experiencing something fantastic
before we die?
recording in image the beauty of long ago?
connecting spiritually to the past?

or are we simply a cog in a (money-making) machine?

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how much of our respective ‘esposos’ can we talk about
and laugh
before the commonalities become apparent
and our wedding rings begin to look too similar?

(on homosexuality being illegal
but not necessarily punishable)