I know that you are

Standing there

In your room

Thinking how beautiful

Life is

Believing that you can

Control yourself

That you can exist on a diet

Of water and air.

You are happy to be alone

Lonely, but happy.

It is inevitable

That you will remember Paris

That you will feel the luxury

Of walking down famous streets

Trying to recall

European history

Trying to be knowledgeable

Thinking that you are

Watching yourself

On a movie screen

Or that someone else

Is watching.

Trying to collect material

That will be useful later.

Eating in restaurants

Where you cannot read the menus.

Sleeping at night

Listening to the bells of

Notre Dame.

Reliving the day

With the scrutiny of

A dietitian.

Restless nights.

Morning walks

Past open markets

Popping inside cathedrals

And museums.

You study antiques and art

So spectacular

That you become

Inconspicuous

Small.

The present moment is the only reality

And standing inside your room

There is no Paris

There is no one

There is nothing at all.