Traveling

Traveling through lands far from home close to heart
Muses peer mischievously from behind marble sculptures
While wild maenads  dance to rustic tunes
That were old before Apollo first caressed strings divine
Valleys and rocky slopes resound to airy spirits
Cities thrum to the vibration of modern life
People packed, car squeezing, winding byways
Leading to age layered mazes
Crammed with shops, bars, cafes
Each cramped doorway a gateway
To the exotic, different and alien
Gaudy  trinkets lie side by side with small treasures
Doorways inhabited by aproned tempters
Lead willing devotees to worship at Epicurean altars
Taste buds are assaulted with myriad sensations
And diners surrender to their plate ladened victors
The eye is drawn with every corner rounded
As the senses are intoxicated with heady waves
Crashing over the mind drowning all with the moment
Overwhelming a simple antipodean with old world charm
The road to the future seldom trod lies open
Possibilities arch towards endless horizons
The new pair of traveling shoes are already worn
By side of the road images burning
Galleries aflame with sensation and untouchable wonder
Experiences parade in rich procession
Even the jostling of the fellow travelers is welcome
Why then is my heart empty?
Cold and desolate as the Etruscan tombs I have wandered through
A soul as dead as the dwellers in that crypt infested town.
The crossroads I come across all look alike
And none are a fork in the road
What light can lead from the dark?
When my eyes are still shut tight
Halfway across the world but in the same spot
How far do I have to travel?
How many more journeys?
Until I find that gentle inner sea