the pounding hearts
of palpitations
of stressors
or wondering if we’ll get back into our country of origin
ok
or
if we even want to
Month: July 2025
July 11, 2025 [part 2]
i can see why
people love this tree
and personify [her] to the point of
pronouns
she is something truly
living
and being,
imposing
and consoling
there is something
here
underneath her
in her shade
in her presence
that i find
indescribable
but inscrutably
here
i breathe her in
and hope she knows
all the love i bring
with me
here
to her
July 11, 2025
i understood very little Greek
in Greece
and a fair amount of French
in France
but the Spanish sounds so fast
in Spain
and Portuguese, to my ears, is nearly Russian
in Portugal
i keep just wanting to speak in French
because it’s the only language i’ve been able to even start to grasp
but most folks here understand English fine
[i just don’t actually want to be associated
with that damn country
of mine]
July 10, 2025 [part 2]
merit
find it
a way out
a way down
turning at each sharp angle
careening down steep, cobblestone hills
bump
bump
bump
veer
and bump
historical and exciting
and mundane as any day
the tram service
July 10, 2025
this is a trip of
a little bit flying by the seat of our pants
a little bit months and months of planning
and a frothy topping of
walking
everywhere
July 9, 2025 [part 2]
art
and artists
are the only things making me
hopeful
right now
[perhaps my art
could bring hope
to someone, somewhere]
July 9, 2025
a family
a train ride
and thousands of sunflowers
in fields rolling past
at 266 km/h
and somehow it all reminds me of
van Gogh’s paintings
and how much i want to become
an impressionist
~~~
i just got so confused
as to why the baby in front of me
wasn’t crying in response to the
baby crying in the next train car over
and then i remembered that babies are not dogs
who bark and howl to be heard by others
of their species…
~~~
this whole trip
is a whirlwind
this whole life
kind of is
too
at least i have a train car
inside which to sit and write
all my silly poems
~~~
every
single
time
another train passes directly by
i
am
startled
~~~
there are
so many more palm trees
than i ever would have expected
in Europe
[i think that’s on me tho,
because climate is a known thing]
~~~
i think
if you’ve seen
any
van Gogh painting
of nature
or landscape
you’ve seen the full spirit of
what these trains speed past
July 8, 2025 [part 2]
having a whole conversation
in french
some words rushing past
in a jumble
but also able to pick up certain specifics here and there
and
able to reply
in french
apparently that’s what i wanted
from this trip
[even more so than a life-changing croissant]
July 8, 2025
who would have guessed
the Eiffel Tower lit up
in magical sparkles
at 10:00pm
[22:00]
?
[probably all those tourists we were walking towards,
but it was a complete surprise for us, as was
the time of the evening]
[still, très magique]
July 7, 2025 [part 3]
once again
en train de voyager
this time
ce temps
en avion
pas de ferrie
[i’m guessing at some of this french
but so far, i think i’m doing ok]
[though i keep worrying that i’m teaching kip things wrong
and the francophones on this plane
are judging me]
kipventures 