The Weather is the Weather

Through the front window today, the snow gave everything a fairy-tale quality,

which in this Prisma app enhancement is as plain as Tortola to see.

POSTCARD FROM TORTOLA

I've never been to Tortola,
though many times I've drifted
to the vast principality of elsewhere
where, no doubt, a Tortola must be,
so I can attest the weather is the weather
I've brought with me, overcast
with periods of sun, always a low
following a high, and the natives
impoverished and gay. You wouldn't
like it here. Go elsewhere. One person's
Tortola is another's Sadness-by-the-Sea.
The duty from which you're absolved
in the duty-free shops comes with a price.
On the other hand, it's beautiful---
the water turquoise, the breeze a constant
caress. Some people actually love
that there's singing in the streets.

Stephen Dunn

EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD; POEMS, 
Stephen Dunn, W. W. Norton, 2006, page 45.

Stephen Dunn has many poetry honors, 

including the Pulitzer Prize. 

He is the author of many terrific books of poems.

This poem made me think about what it might be like 

to have lived in many different places. My second cousin, 

a U.S. diplomat, has lived in many different places; 

it gives him a different outlook. I have lived 

in only a few places in the US and have visited 

other countries for one, two or three weeks. 

Count them: Colombia, Japan, Bali and Greece! 

jhh