POETIC TREK

I have traveled the earth trudging among
the broken statues of Easter Island,
listening to the children of Pitcairn Island
sing hymns, felt the icy blast of Dutch Harbor winds
and swam in the Black Sea.

On my poetic search I climbed the Great Wall of China,
rode a camel near the great pyramid of Giza,
walked within the walls of the Kremlin,
through the barb-wire horror of Dachau and observed
the blood stained walls, ovens and bins of suitcases,
shoes, and false arms and legs in Auschwitz.

I saw the ice floes of Greenland,
the Monkey Dancers of Bali, the Berlin Wall,
the ruins of Dresden, the Komodo Dragon,
the glaciers of Alaska and many churches and castles.
I saw Mongolian cowboys riding camels,
and ate the rare fish of Lake Baikal

Always searching. I saw joy, sorrow and fear
among this planet’s people. Russians were afraid
to speak to us, while the Chinese wanted to practice
their English now taught on TV instead of the previous Russian.
I ate a feast of all the world, and it all mixed to form
this persona, this person, this poet, and this poem.

RUTH WILDES SCHULER