Nineteen years old
quit the first teaching job
and told his dad
‘money will come eventually’
Then
got on a plane which
landed after midnight
outside of Pisa
my final destination
35 km away – a medieval Tuscan town
found a ride
90 euros to Lucca
on the way the driver said
you should sell real estate here
to rich foreigners with your English
I nodded and privately thought
I’d rather sell ice cream than my soul.
I walked around
the old amphitheatre
then up the walls
thinking about Colombiana
and trying to interpret a map on paper
how quaint!
All this time
lugged a heavy camera that I borrowed
and listend to a folk band from New Zealand
then, tired
hid for an hour behind a hedge.
Ponte Moriano – a small train station
a short Italian man in cutoff jeans welcomed us
six strangers from around the world
we piled up in his jeep and rode up
steep hills to the actual destination –
Villa Boccella
Forty people kept arriving through the week
And split in groups, mine was Team X
Libby, Morgan, Awet, myself
literally hugged trees
gazed at stars at night
walked among the maize.
Where can you find Neville?
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