on the other side of the world a privileged woman trek stumbles between one village and another/ she feels the autumn wind while climbing steep hills to view a wild and shimmering ever shifting sea/ dodging crowds she repeats mantras to hold onto sanity and kindness/ it’s open season on ancient wonders and civility/ so many photo ops and each one a smiling special feature subverts the object of the frame/ I am a tourist and why is it tourists must exemplify the obtrusive (and loud and lame)/ rainy days bring quiet albeit temporary reprieve/ big maple leaf on damp crosswalk stones reminds me of home/ it doesn’t mean I’m yet ready (unwilling) or driven (out) to go🪶