I Am Transported

My friends hold precious tickets in their ready hands
Soon to be transported to distant, other lands:
John, will see America and her wide open arms
Stretching from high mountains to her lowest farms;
Michal will cross the sea for Moses' newfound home,
To Greece, Istanbul, London, and then onto Rome.
Jessie will fly west to know the North West Coast
To a wedding of a frieind, she must make her toast.

And I, barren soldier, must kiss the barren earth
And stay a while longer in my place here.
Biding my time, not minding its passing,
Be it week, month, or stationary year.

But in the night, my fears unhinged,
I see Yosemite and Frisco, the Pyramids, Paris
Greek Islands and Greek shores,
Temples, churches, hills, cliffs, and moors,
The endlessly sacred and the secret divine
And I, not placed at a single one, die unknown.

To breathe, I step outside
And behold Atlas' mighty burden,
More ancient than God himself.
The clouds like fallen ice shelf adrift at sea,
Illuminated by moon, take my breath away.
The stars, older than time, shine with open delight,
The blackness of night erodes my wanderlusty fright
And I am well in happiness again -
Seeing miracles and knowing it,
And I am transported
Away, away.

6/09