This wasn’t initially written as a poem
(I’m not a poet)
but it really wanted to look like one, so I obliged.
Every time we say we’re going to travel light.
And every time it’s like moving a circus complete with
elephants.
There’s the rabbit in her travel cage
with her litter and feed.
The dog, ancient but hanging on,
with her old-folks kibble, her mattress and
her blanket.
The children with their schoolbooks
(you wouldn’t believe how many),
toys-from-which-they-cannot-be-parted,
clothes for every eventuality and
voluminous personalities
that fill any car beyond capacity
particularly when an adult is simply in the mood
to contemplate the dotted line
and the pastures
and the peaceful cows grazing
along the drenched, autumnal route.
On the return, there’s the food we didn’t eat
but are too frugal to toss,
packed in insulated cool bags or not,
depending.
Lunch makings for hungry stomachs on the road.
A parting baguette which we pick up at the boulangerie
on the way out of town.
Lights out.
Gas off.
Water valves closed.
Doors locked.
Drawers, closets, and crannies checked for those things
that mustn’t be
left
behind—
glasses and retainers and
themes due on Monday.
Check.
Check.
Check.
And then the last part of the ritual:
saying goodbye
yes, out loud
to every room and favorite thing
including the enormous spider who lives by the kitchen door
standing sentinel and witness
until next time.
The Daily Cure 
an elephant called david, for you italian writers out there..
you l’ never see MY car… did you??& its just for 2 hours driving…next time i take a picture ..promis….
yes! do that!!!
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You could do all this without the girls’ fighting in the back seat? That was always part of the routine (and the occasion of paternal scolding and threats) when my sister and I (who have the SAME birthday, four years apart) did the long distance haul in the back seat. Sigh. A long time ago, but etched in memory for life. Bonne chance, mes chers!
I enjoyed this. I so understood the saying good-bye to every room in the house. Then saying hello again. I am keeping the grandchildren’s little rodents (guinea pigs and rabbits) and checking on the four cats and two goats while they take a short trip to Glenwood Springs and Aspen this weekend.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I wish we had a rodent-sitter!!!