daily wanderings

waking in a start
hours before the alarm buzz at seven
damn! no ticket yet
hasty five a.m. internet connection
reservation impossible to confirm
holiday weekend, upcoming disaster
everyone else has
tickets booked months ago
where will I go?
procrastinating, I proliferate swear words

later at the station
I tell him
"put me on a train going anywhere"
         the money's spent but the ticket I so desired
         is in someone else's pocket
                   I just want to escape the city jungle

publicity panel there
                             GOTAN PROJECT
                             I wonder
                             like Blair Witch?
but this more romantic
forest of sexy legs entwining
Piazzola, restyled tangos
                             lunatico was the title, accent on the A
                             CD album
(thank you Google research!)

meanwhile it's less
mysterious than two-foot high
orange block letters
                             (no artistry - too bad)
                             (but a nice sense of color opposition)
graffiti on a warehouse wall
                                       train speeding by
         said
         MORE
strange word for the French wall artists!
invisible connections, sure
         but more?
         what?

brief professional interlude
         the piano bench squeaks
         untimely percussion backup
         for a Chopin waltz
         distracting noise
         student fingers slip
         (mine will not, for music is music
         though students try hard...)
before I left on the day's adventure
         crackling on the long distance line
         when I want to say I love you
         "what's that?" you ask
         I repeat but its not the same
loving good music cannot be delayed either

platform, again
waiting for a train to take me anywhere
holiday freedom
machine jingle-jangle instead of bird song
people scream into cell phones
discretion long forgotten
I must be trying to seek the quiet tumble of the seashore
but will my destination take me there?
or a shop in the country nearby
where I might contemplate a new tree for my garden
or a miniature addition for my balcony

an old lady huffing and puffing
takes the sunlit seat next to mine
breathing hard under audible conversational tones
         "I have to recuperate
         imagine running at my age!"
                   (should I answer her?
                   pretend hers is just part of the ambient noise?)
no multiple choice answer
useless noise

the train arrives at a new station
today's adventure, destination: elsewhere
wherever I end up
springtime's silence will open up new flowers and tiny new leaves in the sun
ah! the peaceful existence of an orchid in the middle of the forest!



                   daily wanderings
                   14 april, 2006