20160209 (homebody)

If you need matching dinnerware, knives and forks, you'll
need help in the basement shower 

Had I a better sense of symmetry

I should have watched the sunrise

On Cadillac Mountain, Acadia

National Park, Maine and watched

The sunset at Twin Peaks, San

Francisco. I got Acadia right and

Was in the location where sunlight

First strikes the eastern seaboard.

Very pretty spot any time of day,

But if I recall rightly, our day was

Too cloudy for the stunning 

Performance. On the west coast

The sun came over the mountains

Already blazing yellow, not in

Spectral splendor as it would

Coming up from the sea. No, I

Couldn’t get all I wanted. But 

Even without trying I got what

I needed. Some people I know

Sit down finally in their living 

Rooms after a trip only

To spread a map over the

Coffee table to chart their 

Next venture. If you happened 

Into their kitchens you’d find the

Statement embroidered and

Framed, “Not All Those Who 

Wander Are Lost,” hung 

Prominently over the rack of 

Dishtowels. There’d also be a

Clutter of photographs stuck with

Pushpins hastily thrown up

On a nearby cork board.

Such was more common in

The period of film photos.

If there were maps under

The pictures, there was likely

A piece of yarn linking the

Visited locations—color

Coded for the year or 

Season of the journey. As

I’ve written many times 

Earlier digital age travelers

Release their albums to the

Internet within seconds.

Today I am less inclined 

To travel. No more grueling

Waiting at airports while

Flights get cancelled. No

More worry about luggage.

It snuggles behind my couch

Empty and closed up, grateful

That it will not soon have to 

Bulge, strain its zippers to

Contain first my fresh, then on

Return, my smelly clothes.

Of course I will not encounter

The many wonderful folks

Who occupy distant lands as

I often do when traveling. That’s

OK. If they’d like to come here

I’d be happy to have them. I’ve

Got all the space they might

Want if not the customary

Lavish comforts of travel:

Only one couch, about six

Office chairs, enough cutlery

And Melmac for lunch

If they don’t insist cups

Match saucers or knives and

Forks bear the same pattern.

I can park in the garage and

Leave them the driveway for

Their car. It might take some

Desensitization training to 

Get them to shower in the

Basement with the cobwebs

And quick little critters who

Sometimes come to visit. I

Hear young travelers are

Hardy types. Just let me know 

A week in advance.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016