(mostly Senryu poems)
Why do people attempt to engage?
When I'm so obviously disengaged.
Ok, tourists, when
I'm communing with my phone
please leave me alone.
I'm shopping, waiting
for the metro, I don't like
talking to strangers.
People in Paris,
think people who stop you on
the street are scammers.
I'm not here to help,
like a theme park employee.
Take your own pictures.
Your phone is equiped
With GPS, and very
exact directions.
This is my home, I'm
on my way somewhere, like school,
I have a schedule.
I'm not Mickey Mouse
or a Blues Clues character.
Jésus, go away
Are we unfriendly?
No, we're living - would you stop
a New Yorker? No.
.
.
Songs for this:
Comme ci, comme ça by ZAZ
The Riverside bar by the river Avon
Near the Putney Bridge
I’m watching how the boats keep sailing
Down the water’s edge
There are tourists on the pier
Taking selfies eating ice cream
Locals holding their beers
Talk about Bath cricket team
But I can’t relate to this
Either can’t relate to that
What I am supposed to miss
Never comes into my head
Cause I’m just a good time Charlie
Sort of careless and free
It’s a precious moment, darling
When you smile this way at me..
Stand on longlegs,,
cool shallow water.
Colors are pinks not reds.,
Tourists taking pictures,
as we look away.
Today no eggs.,
Nashville Tennessee quite the destination.
Historical birthplace of so many illustrious careers.
Phenomenal live concerts and museums.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
London fog is well renowned.
Tourists flock in droves to see it.
Time permitting, the Big Ben.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Tourists
Talked to a girl in Egypt today
last thing in the world she would
do with time off, is look at pyramids.
Talked to a man in Paris, Eiffel tower
not worth his hour. Talked to an old
New Yorker, has not been up to the
top of The Empire State, not his idea
of a date -- seeming that, many travel
far to see where locals hold no immediate
priority -- a muted sense of eternity?
----------------------------------------------
To Be
Why on earth mars?!
Far-out local bars
Sun good enough for me
When it comes to stars;
And if the subject is eternity
Then every day is Free!
And Shakespeare was wrong --
One could never not be....
Montreal is my favourite city ~ a mix of old and new.
I love its architecture which graces it with style and unique character.
It's got more than its share of cathedrals, pubs and restaurants.
It boasts a vibrant mingling of local and exotic culture.
Well known to be the hub of exquisite cuisine and fine dining.
Montreal gathers artists into a most vivacious symbiotic community.
Best of all ~ summertime offers its kaleidoscope of musical festivals.
So make a point of visiting this city that is big on charm !
Let Montreal lure you, captivate you and seduce you ~
AP: 2nd place 2025
My life's journey is marked by ups and downs
A rollercoaster ride of smiles and frowns
I decided to live every moment to the fullest
Time changes and we are all tourists
Neither happiness nor sorrow is permanent
Only change is ever constant
It wasn’t clean at Calvary,
no tidy hill-top site,
neat-kept and swept
where tourist cameras
crowd
wide-angled
in the holy sweat
of multi-pounded package tours.
It was a common place
of cruelty,
and blood,
a skull,
Golgotha death
and mocking hate
and sorrow deep-confused.
In retrospect,
a place of wonder
infinite,
for here
the eternal God,
forgiving,
gave his life
for me.
“The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
Florida loves tourist- they order big, buy big, tip big and then leave
Weird tourists from Iowa took readily to New York City
Taking photos of the sights, thinking they were witty.
Aren’t they cows? Someone asked on Fifth Avenue.
One is, the other is a bull, said his cousin, Boo.
The cow and the bull turned and one gave a loud moo.
Pretty soon they were chasing a frightened Boo.
That’s why I wish tourists would stay out of New York City.
Especially bulls with horns, who gore people not so pretty.
refuge
I spot two ducks
and using my fancy
I picture them in nesting mode
more ducks
meadow
mankind’s playground
humans on a picnic
strangely frightened, left in a rush.
litter
mid-stream
kids formed a dam
in the years past and gone
a safe place for spawning catfish
shelter
forest
tall evergreens,
fragrant pine-needle floor
has become wild creatures’ heartland
haven
white clouds
no sign of rain
people no longer come
what may be hiding in the woods?
wonder
refuge
mankind’s playground
in the years past and gone
has become wild creatures’ heartland
wonder
April 6, 2023
Sponsor Constance La France
Contest Name Writing Challenge - 'R' Words
this is a garland cinquain
The tall coconut trees
Resemble pillars
Erected like lamp poles
Spred like umbrellas
Stand in a row
Towering above the equatorial sea shore
Welcoming tourists
Applauding the coming back of the fishermen
Dancing in the dusk and moonlight
Amidst the disco music of the sea
Have long forgotten the strike of Tsunami
The Circle Line is chugging by,
The tourists coming back,
Perhaps because the vaccination
Rates are right on track.
Museums have been opening,
The Gardens and the zoos.
The clubs are back in business;
There are many things to choose.
I’m not quite ready to step out
From inside my cocoon,
But as I watch life moving on,
I hope to do so soon.
Before I travel, first I’ll try,
Like tourists on that boat,
To wade into the sea of life
To see if I can float.
The heat was a change from our normal abode
a wonderful way to reside,
but when it is high at the noon of the day
it would be nice to stay cool inside.
A country so hot was a good place to be
where from routine and work we were free,
where the sunshine and sand of our holiday land
let us play all day long in the sea.
But next time we go we will fly on a plane
and find nice cool rooms to stay in,
the sun heated our caravan too hot by far
so we roasted like nuts in a tin.
Good luck to our friends they can drive on their own
to the land where they're toasted right through
for we'll only go where there's places to stay
with air-con and plenty to do.
We got bored in this land where there's nothing but sand,
though the natives were friendly, that's true,
but just sitting all day on beaches that way
is not what we’d normally do.
We had travelled so far with our caravan and car
with our friends that are really quite sweet
but in two thousand and four we learned a bit more
about things that we'll never repeat!
Ivor G Davies
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