TRAVEL POEM

Vasilis Manousakis is a short-story writer, poet and translator, whose work has appeared in New American Writing, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Barcelona Ink, Parentheses and Drunken Boat among others. He is also a founding member of Bonsai Stories, the blog directly linked to Planodion literary magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in Contemporary American Poetry and currently teaches Creative Writing, Modern Poetry, Short Fiction and Literary Translation at the Hellenic American College, Athens, Greece. 

He says: “This poem was originally inspired by the notice for the cleaners in my Paris hotel room which jokingly alluded to the Depeche Mode song. This brought me to the inner journey and the quest for peace and serenity. And how much we can enjoy this kind of silence.”

Enjoy The Silence

The sign at the hotel door 

urging me to find silence within 

I check out the window 

and see Montmartre cemetery 

I wonder if this is the peace 

I should enjoy 

numbing my thoughts to the point 

I do not feel them anymore 

As I walk down the streets of Paris now 

I find the inspiration I need 

helped by the Beaujolais I tasted 

Paris is a busy city 

but I enjoy its silence 

Paris is an escape 

Escape is silence 

Silence is healing 

I am healing