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

May 19/20 (part 2)

my other musings
on Machu Picchu
paint a picture
that may not be entirely accurate

i loved the stones
and the vastness
and the hike
and the mountains

i took hundreds of photographs
i smiled as i touched stones
stones that were put together so many years ago

houses that people lived in

and my brain began to wander

will there be a residence of mine
that will end up an archaeological site

will future generations walk the train tracks
the way they devoutly follow the IncaTrail,
still on their way to see ancient Machu Picchu

can it last, with the number of tourists
increasing every day?

(i wanted to sit and absorb the history
the spirituality
but my sunburn was getting worse
and the other people felt too close
and centuries away,

so we left and ate amazing food
and i pined for Machu Picchu
as our train followed those tracks
away)

May 16

even when i am bitter
and sad
and stressed
and upset

waving back to babies who wave at trains
will always bring a smile to my heart

May 14

get pulled into audience participation dancing
Perform

feel out of place on a luxury train
Perform

meet new people who think your life is interesting
Perform

that is your profession, is it not?