Get Out
The screen in my palm recalls
falls, Costa Rica to Iceland,
sand stretching across California,
Hawaii, Panama, Florida, Spain.
Sun and salt still spray the frame.
I scroll the towers I have scaled
and stood beneath:
Eiffel, Sagrada Familia, Empire State.
Great Sand Dunes, Corralejo, Arches,
Mount Teide’s shadow, Rainier too.
Mountains that tell me to lift my eyes.
Plates of food from every stop:
spices, smells home cannot match.
Flavors I have had the pleasure to taste
because I chose to travel, get out.
One of my favorite travel reads:
“The Art of Travel” by Alain de Botton
Writing is revision
Sometimes a piece you have written just feels lifeless or forgettable. But that is not failure. That is the first draft doing its job.
With a little reflection and revision, you can make your words postcard worthy. Add real places. Add sensory details. Make the abstract concrete.
I recently did this with my poem Wanderlust. It began as a loose list of general ideas about travel. Through revision, it became Get Out, a poem grounded in real places I have visited and experiences I have had. The difference is that now it feels alive and truly mine.