My First Trip to Europe

Stepping off the boat told me long stories

with just a quick glance held from a distance

and I was entranced in my mind’s quarries,

feeling so small in my lone existence.

*

Germany, France, Switzerland, oh my–

the river cruise ship glided down the Rhine,

and the July sun hung high in the sky,

till it was time to go back in and dine.

*

The pictures could sing ballads, I’m quite sure,

of histories thought forgotten and lost–

but I recall the way I felt fervor

to climb steep hills for castles, a high cost.

*

From Basil we then departed for home,

and so I had more ideas for a tome.