murmurs of commotion, excitement
the smell of stale
people and personalities
unintentional noise, ears popping
I’m sorry
I spilled my iced coffee on your shoes
gum popping and
the smell of tourist mint
waiting for the risky grey flying machine
that takes you to and from
countries with twisted tongues in the form of words
and food that makes your tongue recoil like a rattlesnake
mommy,
I want mac ’n cheese please
stern voices
that force the memory of exotic etiquette
pearly whites strung together with wire
don’t make the alarm go off
even though daddy said they would
an extra ounce of strawberry shampoo
makes more noise
on the metal detectors
than my morning alarm does
to my phone
because here and there
extraneous sounds soar
from New York City to Beijing to Geneva
all coiled up into one little flying machine
until it’s all let out into a collective
sigh