#PoetryTakeMeAway

Before the journey, one scrutinizes schedules,
connections, stops, overnight stays
and reservations (for rooms with a bath
or shower, single beds or doubles or even a flat);
one consults
Hachette guides and museum guides,
exchanges currencies, splits
francs from escudos, rubles from kopecks;
before the journey, one informs a friend or relative;
checks luggage and passports, completes
the gear, purchases an extra
pack of razor blades, possibly
glances at the will, pure
superstition because the percentage
of plane disasters is negligible;
before
the journey, one is calm but suspects that the wise
do not move and that the pleasure
of returning costs an outrageous amount.
And then one departs and everything is O.K. and everything
is for the best and pointless. .................................. ..............
And now what will happen
to my journey?
I have studied it too carefully,
knowing nothing about it. An unforeseen event
is the only hope. But they tell me
it's foolish to think so.

Eugenio Montale "Prima del Viaggio"