I saw a short film yesterday
it reminded me of a dream
in the picture a man who played the violin badly
walked across Spain, playing for change
to buy raw carrots and rice
sleeping between towns
an adventure in exposure
and discomfort;
my dream was thus:
I was to (am yet to)
take off on foot
to every state in the United
working the weather
carrying nearly nothing
and there had been in this dream
no plan for money
but now it's obvious;
I will not buy a violin
but rather, as in a movie about sunrise
I can sit with my notebook
and offer poems crafted on the spot
to passers by
for a place to set down my tent
this country being less open to wanderers sleeping out
and for the coins I need
for a little bread
and the warmth to walk another day
across an open land
migrating and learning
the song of places and people.
Roman Ryan 