lost PAD 11-3

 Lost

 

L osing my way. I’ve done it so

O ften. Going this way and that.

S et off in the wrong direction.

T urned around, adrift, wandering.

Lost PAD 11-2

 Staying Found in Italy

 

On our tour of Italy,

we went to each activity

Had our tour for the day.

And then they would say,

 “Explore on your own.

Then find your way home.”

To me it was a recipe

to get lost in Italy.

For me this was wrong,

So I made friends and tagged along,

 

To avoid roaming in Rome, 

Vanished in Venice,

Gone astray in Siena,

Offtrack in Florence,

Misplaced in Cinque Terre,

Bewildered in Balogna,

Absent in Assisi,

Nowhere to be found in Naples,

Confused in Capri,

Perplexed in Pompeii,

or Puzzled in Pisa.

 

To remain oriented in Italy

I had to use my ingenuity.

Lost PAD 11-1

 Lost in a Palace in Venice

 

That day in Venice, my sister

stayed at the hotel. I tagged along

with a couple (Mark and Mindy)

so I wouldn’t get lost.

Mark looked a bit like Robin Williams.

My sister and I secretly

called him Mork.

 

I had looked forward to riding

a gondola in a canal,

but the boats were beached

due to rain, wind and cold.

We sloshed around the streets

of Venice in our rain coats,

umbrellas and plastic booties.

 

Some had bought the booties,

but by the time I had opportunity

my feet were already wet,

so I didn’t, but plunged in ankle deep.

Thirty euros to enter a palace

was expensive, but it was dry

and warm inside so we paid it.

 

Interesting paintings, armament

and even a chastity belt were on display.

After a bit, it came time to leave,

but we couldn’t find our way out.

The more we followed the arrows,

the more lost we became.

We wound up in the dungeon.

 

We backtracked and finally exited.

We were going to be late to meet our boat.

Mark ran ahead of Mindy and me

to let our group know we were coming.
I ran after him, umbrella in front of me

against the wind. Mindy trotted behind me.

Her mission was to keep me from getting lost.

 

At last, we ended up at the right place.

but when we got off the boat,

I lost Mark and Mindy, so I followed

another person who knew the way to the bus.

Mark and Mindy and some others

got lost and the guide went to look for them.

We laughed when we found each other again.

colors Poetic Bloomings

 

A Pretty Picture

 

A purple and white hot-air balloon

Floats in a brilliant blue sky

Over red and yellow tulip fields

Delighting the eye

Exhilarating to fly

And as Dorothy says,

“Why then, oh, why can’t I?”