trier, marketplace
.
the market place shines yellow
in the half-dark
“loving those street lights–” i say
&my daughter smiles
“the city gate impressed me more
than the leaning tower of pisa”
&we carry
bits and pieces of our breath
under our coats
the night wind
“so tomorrow you’ll collect your bike?” i ask
“check out the university?”
we drove here on jammed streets,
passing Strasbourg
“never made it back there” i say
cappuccino in a rest-stop on the highway
&the rain pours beats
we don’t know
yet
the beauty about traveling
is in its essence, smell, the rub of tires on a road,
&marks we leave
as we move on
it’s in the small things, in the way the light leans carefully
against her cheeks
now
in a turkish snack bar
we eat lahmacun and yoghourt sauce drips down my arms
into our drinking in
the city’s fragrance,
small bumps//curves of cobblestone,
throw sepia shades
as we walk to her new flat
that she shares
with a future lawyer&a girl with angel hair,
“it smells of change” i say
to the old roman city gate, built in the year180 after Christ
“it shrunk 4 meters since then,
one day you will too mom& i’m taller then”
“ha”
we link arms,
and on my back i feel the Porta Nigra winking//
with soft, charcoal sparkling eyes
.
Gabriella has us write travel poetry at dVerse today… doors open at 3pm EST..
jaywalking the moon 
I could feel Trier around me as I read this. A beautiful poem for a beautiful place.
There is an intimate feel to this poem…a sense of feeling and seeing your breath in the cold night air…another wonderful write.
“It smells of change”.. some trips are both beginnings and end.. the details you capture everything with is extraordinary, like the curve of cobblestones.. 🙂
The Porta Nigra made quite an impression on me when I saw it. I enjoyed going back with you to Trier with you today and strolling in the town. Eating out is always a fun part of traveling and I would not mind trying this Turkish snack bar.
Of course, I did not mean to repeat ‘with you’ in my comment. I edited while I was writing and forgot to delete. Sigh!
Some travels are very memorable…especially those, I think, with city gates that are impressive and with sights and sounds that make a mark on a person & have the smell of change! And, ha, with time everything indeed does shrink!!
I felt a biter sweetness to this poem. Nice to travel with your daughter, but this marks the beginning of a big change, an ending. And we grieve all endings.
I love the words you use to describe the city. Never been there, ’til now, in your words. Take care Claudia.
Lovely intimate moment in a charming old town – a memory to treasure, but also, ah, that smell of change. Good luck to your daughter at university… and to you!
Yes, travel is not just about seeing, but experiencing the place and the time and the persons with us with all of our senses. This is an intimate portrait of your time with your daughter as you go through a city and life changes.
Travel sure can be fun indeed, hopefully you didn’t leave too much rubber behind, tires might go boom then lol maybe you’ll stop shrinking too?
Pretty damn good!
there’s also the beauty of traveling through your poems
ah, the details in here are amazing; sounds like the beginning of something new for you and your daughter! How exciting… smiles. Sweet times in this write
I love the intimate snapshot of inhaling the city’s fragrance ~ What an interesting city gate, thanks for the lovely painting as well ~
Tells a story, paints a picture, creates an atmosphere… lovely illustration too.
I love how there’s a deeper story behind all of this and how you set the scene so wonderfully claudia
A terrific piece, Claudia, rife with the sense memories as well as imagery. Your 2nd stanza really stands out for me. You know, with as much traveling as you have done, & continue to do; this prompt was tailored to your poetic voice. Through you & your poetics I have traveled right alongside you.
Good that your daughter is growing up but tough to face the empty nest & the separation.
I had to stop after the title and just let you know how much I enjoy the title in and of itself.
lovely write. I enjoyed the glimpse into this moment with your daughter.
the lines “&marks we leave / as we move on” is lovely…it has me wondering of not just the marks we leave behind, but the ones we take with us having spent the time we did there.
You create such a compelling image Claudia that I shall have to add it to my list of places to visit. Beautifully done.
Claudia, beyond your evocative words, the structure of your poem is poetic as well. Loved this and your picture.
janet
breath under your coats… nice…you sure like the city and I can tell
This read is SO wonderfully constructed (inspired?) that I hate to mess it up with…
When I was a child, a favorite place to go on Sunday morening after mass, between breakfast and dinner was Strassburger Bakery Shop. In Cincinnati, Ohio, it was owned by an Aunt and Uncle, named Strassburger. My whole family (I have traced back to 1701) came from Alsace, Hence last name Elsaesser (we were the Germans, of course, none of my people spoke French, UGH! –grin!) Oh…family consisted of Farmers, Bakers, Innkeepers, and finally…one violinist, ME…
As you write your feelings, smells, awarenesses, I am settled right there in the midst of the “old country” we used to say. OH HOW I LOVED this piece, Claudia. You are named on my Gratitude List
That watercolor sketch is a new favorite – You keep getting better and better. The poem is wonderful and I adore the idea of such an old city smelling like “change”. Loved the immediacy of this poem – well, so many of your poems are like this – fresh of the page. 🙂
I feel the traveling makes special the special person with whom you share traveling..happy new school year for your daughter! :)x
…and so wonderful painting..with so many little details…feels like you are at new level here..
You really have a talent for creating wonderful images with your words. I love the joy of this trip. Lovely read, Claudia!
-heidi-
Love the line about carrying bits and pieces of your breath.
“drinking in / the city’s fragrance”…and discovering ourselves in the newness is the essence of travel…so nicely expressed…
thank you – I feel like I like the place without having done more than tour it in your poem.
A lovely testament to travel, capturing all the tiny details, and bringing them alive.
… this poem make me cry and revert to baby language and make me cry some more, C … mumme, don’t cry … so much emotion in this … omg, C … witch of words … mmmh … blessed be …
you write about places so very well 🙂
Yes, the essence of traveling..the details….it’s the “marks we leave
as we move on
it’s in the small things, in the way the light leans carefully
against her cheeks
now”……
I love this poem
Oh so vivid. A read full of delights.
It’s about a place, but much more… The growing-up that our children do is another kind of journey.
“rubberlips”- Haha, love that.
Ah, you have captured real moments in the journey..not only the sights but, the smell and sounds and textures around you. thanks for the trip..
I love the details of the setting intertwined with treasured moments. 🙂
“and the rain pours beats we dont know yet”…..beautiful traveling with one’s daughter, Claudia…taking her to where her own journey begins and yours begins to change..LOVE your marketplace sketch, and the verbal sketches you give us here in this wonderful poem. Love the image of the rain on her cheeks, and her telling you one day you’ll shrink, too. Ha.It happened to me. One day I was surrounded by six footers! I tried to use the line from On Golden Pond about what were dwarves for if they didnt do chores, and they pointed out I was the shortest person in the room. Hee hee.
wow this was excellent…..as if I was there…..!!!
“it shrunk 4 meters since then,
one day you will too mom& i’m taller then”
Almost spontaneous reply! Just goes to show daughter is a very alert person with lots of humor too! Great write Claudia!
Hank
A lovely experience of shared memory building with the bittersweet edge of change in the relationship and each of you.