Thursday, June 30, 2022

Guide To Amsterdam (For Visiting Americans)

Follow the mother holding her child’s hand
through the Red Light District.

Smile at the working girls 
dressing rose-colored windows.

Spend an afternoon in a coffeeshop 
with an Englishman named Bob and a joint called ‘Cheese’.

Order a genever; remember to bend and sip
before picking it up.

Stand aside for an army of bicyclists;
they have the right-of-way.

Observe ancient church rituals
older than the promise of the New World.

Tour the Anne Frank House and marvel
at the unbeatable tenacity of creation.

Drop by The Book Exchange:  donate one well-read;
leave with a promising companion.

Traverse the canals at dusk
with fellow travelers you have never met.

Break the provincial bread; indulge the chocolates, frites,
beers, cheeses.  Try the soused herring.

Tell a self-deprecating joke about American tourists ──
ask me if you need one.

Everybody speaks English, but you curry favor
with your fumbling attempts at Dutch.

Wander without a destination through
the cobble-stoned City Centrum district.

Languish at midnight in your third-story bedroom window
and behold a city that has exorcised 

the demons of puritan austerity, suffered and bled for it,
and emerged a wise and mischievous soul.


**First published in Beyond Words Literary Magazine
**Illustration by Morgane Xenos

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