Teleporting To Odessa

I’ve never been there,

but, I am there now, in

my mind.  I don’t know why

that place, that name, has

such a hold on me.

Maybe that there was such

a place in the middle of 

civilizations that rose and fell,

like the Big Game from the 

sidelines…smoking hashish

all the way.

That must have been good

for a few laughs, aside from

the tears.

“My shop has been open

for a thousand years…when

things got bad, my family hid…

brought the shop back out once

the conquerers went back to their

mistresses.

I have four hundred year old wine…

I have actual soma from India…

where is history? It’s here!”

I sat on the cushion next to a 

low table…listened to sounds

of the world outside. I felt I

hadn’t wasted my life.