a rough travel day
and some rough river waters
aren’t too rough for us
the sunset calms us
the river settles for bed
and we can rest now
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Eighteen
Month: July 2023
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Seventeen
we’re the post office:
through wind, rain, sleet, clouds… weather
we weather the storm
just another day
in the life we’ve created
in sickness and health
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Sixteen
rising before dawn
to walk up stairs to a plane:
yes, in Portugal
seeing motherland
for the first time in my life?
green love connects us
it’s more than patchwork
it’s where so many of us
find our heritage
a one-day journey
to return to our homeland
of a thousand years
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Fifteen
botanic gardens
will forever be compared
to Monte’s beauty
tropical magic
trees and blooms of every shade
giving us NO shade
two thousand years old:
a tree planted by Romans
to bring us olives
on all future trips
beating Madeira? so hard
blue-green amazement
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Fourteen
1.8 million:
the years laurel has lived here
giving life to all
enchanted forest:
the only words to describe
Madeira’s true gold
traditional homes
give homage to these laurels
simple thatched roofs
a magical place
waits for you on this island
hidden in the sea
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Thirteen
this Funchal art walk
makes me miss my young artists
at home without us
yet we must adjust
with the empty nest so close
i can feel its grip
this trip is a test
to see what “just us” feels like—
we’re on sold ground
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Twelve
ten thousand stone steps
slippery at dawn, at noon
as mist never stops
ten thousand reasons
to be afraid of this hike,
yet we keep trekking
ten thousand peak views
all in different shades of light
just like our marriage
ten thousand questions
when we married at twenty
look how far we’ve come
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Eleven
enchanted lava
creates unique swimming pools
otherworldly
infinity pools
so twenty-first century
simply don’t compare
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Ten
an intense hike day
with a mid-Atlantic dip
in the midst of love
a cafe awaits
in the midst of all trails here
Tarta de Nata!!
afternoon beach time
cheap to rent umbrella, chairs
on Moroccan sand
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Nine
stressful travel day
of planes, trains, automobiles,
worrisome charges
Madeira calms us
with its volcanic beauty,
nice people, great fish
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