Home is where too much of your head is

This, a gorgeous fall day, was my last full day visiting family. A few weeks ago, a local mom I barely know let me stay in her apartment so that I could start work in earnest on my novel. Whenever I get out of my comfort zone, I always find that I breathe differently, appreciate things in a new way, and enjoy the quotidien at least a little more, at least for a little while. And sometimes being removed from routine results in a totally new one upon return.

I’d love to hear other folks’ reflections on how travel this holiday season — or any time — gives you new perspective.

Baggage

It doesn’t much matter

where you go

to escape your own chaos

whether into a hotel room

feigning uniqueness

or into another’s home

filled with clutter

that asks nothing of you

Any walk

that is not yours daily,

past tall apartment buildings

with too many people

you will never know,

or in a neighborhood of

bungalows that squat

like a limber toddler

or stone homes

sporting peaks

like a family of

perky witches,

any walk can be

away from everything you know

and toward anything

you forgot you wanted

to discover.

————

After casting aside my poetry hat for far too long, my NaBloPoMo plan is to write a poem — and to take and post a photo — every day in November, spending less than half an hour on both. The hope is to drill down, to focus, to look for and create beauty.

Day 1: Eleven One

Day 2: Shoreline

Day 3: Damage

Day 4: On Parenting and Sunrises

Day 5: When will we?

Day 6: Voting Line

Day 7: What I want my children to learn from me

Day 8: Haiku

Day 9: Reminders

Day 10: Routine

Day 11: Lux Esto, in moderation

Day 12: Family Photo Shoot at (nearly) 4o