in this same moment

i forget how lonely i get
in my poet abroad
repose
bookstores coffee shops
full of wealthy
and well-attended people
in varying stages of cowboy chic
plastique
and financial calculations
on other people’s money
while on vacation
in the mountains
of new mexico

i drink up the experience
filtering against hate
adding the rose color of kindness
and my own self-soothing mantra
about serenity
and what i can
and cannot
control

01-15-24