Home, Home Again from Far, Far Away
by Robert M. Katzman © November 4, 2022
Tiny Spiders created a
Cobweb Interstate
In my closed-up office
Missed Autumn and the magic
The explosion of hues
Color gone now
A million leaves all curled up
Cracked, brown and dead
*
I hear English spoken
Spoken everywhere
My French was like
Drops of rain in a desert
One for them/one for me
English is so like a waterfall
My tired mind
Splashing in all the syllables
I can understand everything
Again
*
I can make left turns
I can make right turns
I love the stoplights
Damn the Turning Circles!
Damn the Turning Circles!!
Going round & ‘round & round
Tiny European cars
Spinning past me like
Irritating metallic insects
*
But the bread
Oh, the bread
Crusty, solid, fragrant and more
We have so much to learn
About how to bake bread
Ours a step above dry cardboard
In fact, food is the thing
Food is the religion of Europe
Here we eat to live
There, they live to eat
*
Here, the dollars stack neatly
Like uniform Greenbacks
There, each denomination gets
Smaller and smaller and smaller
Paper transformed into coins
Damn numbers too small
For old eyes to see
But at least over there
No more pennies
*
So many bookstores
Every little hamlet has a bookstore
Filled to overflowing with books
On tables, chairs and the floor
New books and crowds buying them
Old bookstores
The musty smell of Centuries
Pulpy paper and solid binding
Books intended to last
*
Except when another
European country
Insanity erupting
Like a volcano
Burned them
Burned thousands
I think the best of Europe
Depends on when in Time
And who a person is
*
In busy speeding Paris
Every kind of beautiful women
None of them born in France
Tunisia to Morocco
Portugal to Senegal
Bretagne to Japan
China, Thailand, Korea
Hajibs everywhere
Dark eyes avoiding mine
*
Markets sprout up from nothing
Like mushrooms after
A heavy Spring rain
Fresh everything
Cheeses, pork, hams
Chicken roasting on spits
Every kind of bread
Poppy seed to Baguettes
A dozen silk scarves fluttering
Fragrant leather purses
Earrings, necklaces, anklets
Sparking in hot sunlight
*
A thousand people
Laughing, happy
Tasting
Shopping
Then, poof!
All gone
Like none of the wagons
Were ever there at all
Magic
*
But my bed is so like an old friend
I know where everything is
The shower is always hot
There is always toilet paper
I know where all the
Knives and forks are
A small castle maybe
But at least, it’s my castle
*
My old car has been
Awaiting me
A faithful steed
Ok, a rusting nag
But it has a wonderful
Automatic Transmission
Usually
And room for more than
One adult person
*
Very slowly, here
Electric replacing gas
There, virtually not one
American car
Everything seemingly electric
And their tiny little cars
Are so adorable
Like charms on a bracelet
*
My small town has my friends
I know all the streets
Where the potholes are
I know all the stores
I know my favorite cafes
Where the coffee is good
Where I can just be
*
I know my Barber
My Doctor
My Lawyer
My Mechanic
My Post Office
And the nice people
Working there
And who smile at me
When they see me
I am known here
*
I can plug
Any damn thing
Into any damn socket
A miracle!
Traveling to alien places
Is where a person
Constantly adapts
Home is
Never having to adapt
*
My old rituals
Can resume again
As real to me as
Invisible children
Anxiously
Awaiting my return
I am home
***
“To all, home or not, especially our military, Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Bob”
*********
Publishing News!
(Currently seeking representation as a speaker/poet for hire)
Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart and Vol. Two: Fighting Words
Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.
Please visit my new website: http://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.
Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
I will get your books to you within ten days.
Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:
Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.
Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998 (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM
Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping
For: (1) $3.95; (2) $5.95; (3) $7.95; (4) $8.95 (5) $9.95;(6) $10.95
(7) $11.95; (8) $12.95; (9) $13.95 (10) $15.95 (15) $19.95
I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools can call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.
My two latest books are available in the Racine Wis Public Library. Both books are labeled: 921 KAT. ROB on their spines, in autobiography Dept.
Signed Books are also for sale at:
Studio Moonfall Bookstore, 5031 7th St. Kenosha, Wis, email: hello@studiomoonfall