Boundaries

When I travel, I like
putting everything in bags
fastening slick zip-loc seams
squeezing silver snaps
pink packing cubes stacked
like Tetris pieces inside my suitcase
and totes on my shoulders
holding bags within bags

I also like collapsible maps
crisp creases directing my steps
and antiseptic voices announcing departures
in whale-belly-hollow train stations
with yellow stripes defining my pathways
and I like reading timetables
even when I never take the train

I like boundaries because they divide
the hubbub from the bounty
when I spend time with you
I am saying yes, I want this
yes, because time is my legacy
my precious transitory fortune

And no one devalues time on holiday
seconds aren't wasted, only savored
even those spent adrift or motionless
on towel-draped lounge chairs
around swimming pools rimmed
with talavera tile

Minutes elsewhere we would call misspent
become currency when we travel
and down here I am always traveling
with my bags within bags
and collapsible maps
the boundaries of living adrift
all the while saying yes
I want this, yes




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