We Traveled the World in Six Weeks

Che cosa è in su?

Funny when you hear an awkward translation of something.

Anyway, I'm just posting a pretty well-revised poem from a while back. I think it's better than the original, but it seems a little disjointed to me still. Maybe I'm just too close to this case. Take a look.

We Traveled the World in Six Weeks

The last drag

of my Camel Light left

a sweet flavor on my lips –

like the honey-gold sand of Giza

crinkled underfoot when paced headlong

into the Egyptian sunset.

It’s always sunset in Egypt.

We gathered coins for kapparot

to atone for that night in October,

swung our sin into them

in exchange for a soft pack,

and smoked all but one.

I handed the cigarette

to that sultry brunette. She shared the night

air with me, far from crowd. She masked

the smoke with candy-flavored lip gloss,

the kind she wore on our first kiss.

She wears my green sweatshirt

as a life vest. I take a long sip of Newcastle

and let go of her hand.

In the hour of a heartbeat

I remember the Millennium

Bridge from the hotel room upon the Tyne:

city lights buzzing, glinting around the glowing arcs.

She and I never walked the streets

at night. Her nude silhouette danced in

and out of those arcs like the shadow

of a detached retina until

sunrise in London.

I turn back and peek

into a blacked out room:

pale flesh on pale flesh, each freckle beaming.

He is there – taking candy off her lips.

Then I walk away, leaving

the green sweatshirt to swim alone

on the hardwood floor.

That's all I've got for today. Happy holidays!

-Steph