TAKING THE PLEASURE OUT OF TRAVEL

Years ago when I traveled for work,
I saw much of the U.S. of A.
Mostly I saw airports
Hotels, convention centers
Not a lot of time to take in the scenes
When you’re working

That put me in New Orleans, San Fran, L.A.
Atlanta, Las Vegas, Lansing, Mich., Phia
W. Palm Beach, Fla., Kansas City, Mo., not Kansas
And Chicago more times than I’d like to count.

Some hotels had TVs and phones in the bathroom
And most of the rooms were interchangeable
A bed, a desk, an armoire with a TV, and
A mini fridge with overpriced food and drink.

In all those places the boss got the best room
And the staff were shuffled off to the farthest rooms
But once, my last time in Chicago, the new boss
Put my family and me in a suite.
My daughter, five years old then,
Had her own room, bathroom, TV and phone.
My wife and I had the same, and in between
Was a double sized room big enough for a party
And its own bar, to entertain,
and two separate bathrooms
A Murphy bed discretely tucked into the wall
And outside from our perch we got a clear view
Of Lake Michigan in the distance,
And the funky green river running down below.

That was the year they lit up Wrigley
I think it rained on the first try
And I remember learning,
after my wife and daughter left for home
while stayed behind to unwind,
That Raymond Carver had died
And how much I enjoyed reading
His short stories when I traveled.

- By Anthony Buccino
Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved.