A reflection 

I first truly saw you in the airport,

You were the only other youngin other than me,

Your smile was the first noticee,

Then your brown hair that you continuously stroked,

Then came your green eyes, 

They looked upon me friendly but not without caution.

We were part of a group that was destined to change our lives,

In a unique way that both of us would remember,

It made me worry when your aunt carried a leather bag, 

Instead of a backpack,

I told her so and she laughed.

I stayed close during our short time in Newark,

Because even though we have been part of the same community for a time,

I still didn’t know that many people,

You accepted me as a friend,

You laughed at my jokes,

You were never afraid to speak your mind,

And you never tried to impress me,

Which was a draw for me.

Never did you stray to far from your aunt,

She was always attached to your hip,

And no matter how close I tried to get,

You clung closer to her.

When we finally arrived at our true destination,

Neither one of us can keep our eyes open very long,

But ears were always open,

Listening for potential danger.

Our group travels to our hotel,

Dumps out bags in our rooms,

We all jump back on the bus,

We head to our dinner,

Bleary eyed that we are.

Dinner in the hotel after a two hour “brief”-ing,

I was so tired I can’t remember what I ate,

Except for the dessert,

Some sort of creampuff with shredded coconut.

We get back into the bus, 

This time the bus is crammed full of people,

Co-workers for the week ahead,

I barely notice the trip back,

I fall to sleep almost immediately as I sit for the bus to get us back to the hotel.

We start our days on Monday through Friday,

Always we start with breakfast, 

I get to the table at 7:15,

I sit and visit with the elderly of our group,

You and your auntie come fifteen minutes later,

I sit and wait for both of you everyday.

We go to our different assigned jobs during the mornings to afternoons,

Mine is construction,

Yours is working with a nursing home,

We both come back tired, 

I fall asleep hard,

Monday and Tuesday,

You and your aunt say that you want to go touring on Wednesday night,

I make my first promise to you,

I say that I will go with you two.

We traverse down a dangerous neighbourhood to get to the tourist trap,

We make it through alive,

Even after making a wrong turn,

Down a dark alley,

The locals don’t bother us too much as we traverse down this path,

And it seems that they take caution around me,

The sight we see at the end is awesome,

And we then remember that few in the world has seen this sight.

You two seem to feel guilty for forcing me to go along,

But I remind you both that there could have been nothing farther from the truth,

I wanted to go,

If only to spend time with you,

To get closer,

To earn your trust more and more.

Thursday afternoon is upon us,

I am pulled away by some of the others of our group,

We make our way toward a sweet aroma,

We order a frozen chocolate,

The others consideration of me is boosted by what I have ordered.

We see each other at dinner Thursday night, 

And we all stay at the table, 

And we all chat and laugh together,

It is more fun than the best sleep, 

Then we all head to bed early.

Friday came,

Touring day came,

Flora shirt day came,

The No-denying-that-you-can’t-see-me day came,

And I was prepared for an all day march.

We started touring the old city,

The tourist traps seemed unending,

The shopping with cheaper prices the closer to the door we got,

Lunch came around,

We found another sweet aroma,

And then the group split up.

I teamed up with you and your aunt,

You both were looking for a pair of boot shoes,

And I went with you, 

We went outside the trap of a city,

We went to the modernized city,

We went when a sporting event had emptied both new and old cities,

And all the shops were closed.

The cafes, clothing stores, and accessory stores,

All closed,

Thousands of people around,

And nobody was even selling a bottle of water,

Man was it hot,

We trudged along,

We found free public transportation,

We found out later that it was going the opposite direction as our hotel.

We got off of the free train,

We began looking for a taxi cab, 

We found one after a half mile and bad directions from your phone,

50 units of currency to get us back to the hotel,

Worth it.

We get back to the hotel,

We get some water,

And head back to the sweet aroma,

The shop is barely open,

We receive frozen chocolate once again,

And we savor the flavor of its frozen goodness,

The sweet coldness freezes out souls in the warm weather,

We return to the hotel with time to bathe before dinner.

Dinner is the group’s debriefing from the past mornings,

All the groups that came share information about the week’s work,

We all eat together,

And all the time I am watching you,

Gauging your reactions,

I noticed that you always seem giddy,

Your smile rarely leaves your face,

And whenever you look in my direction,

I feel calm relaxed and joyful,

For I know that smile is meant for me.

In the evening we three,

You me and the aunt,

Sit on the balcony of the hotel,

To watch the stars,

There are fireworks going off in the distance,

And the coolness of the night comes about,

I say good evening to you two for our final night in the city.

The last day of touring,

And the last chance to buy sovinuneers,

Our first tourist trap, 

You buy what seems like 50 wooden trinkets,

The cashier hands you two giant bags that you hoist over your shoulder,

Looking like Santa Claus,

I know I am exaggerating but still…

We are lucky enough to have a tour bus, Where you can deposit your bags,

And for the rest of the day we go from hotspot to hotspot,

Seeing all of the lands most exquisite sites,

Lunch with an overview of a nearby hill,

And throughout the day I make sure that your perfect smile never leaves,

The joy I feel at your giddiness makes me want to have it last forever.

Your aunt is less clingy to you this day,

I don’t know if is because she trust me more, 

Or that you yourself want to be around me more,

I hope and pray that it is the latter.

As we finish dinner and head to the airport to leave the country,

I reflect on all the good times we had together,

The adventures that we had,

And what they might mean to everyone that participated,

When we arrive at the airport,

I see that you have decided to bring your wooden trinkets on board the plane,

I decided that I would help carry them for you, 

Even if you didn’t ask,

You were reluctant at first,

But by the time the second flight had taken off,

You were glad for the help,

And your smile had returned.

And when we finally arrived at our home destination,

The burden of sleep left as we saw family and friends,

Our spirits were revived,

And mothers want to know what the best part of the trip,

I have yet to reveal the best part yet,

But I bet you can guess.

I can see that smile even now.