Where do you want to travel this summer?

Listen: I want to ask you a question: Aren't you tired of the same routine, getting up in the morning and going to work and coming home in the evening, eating dinner and dozing off to lame jokes by either Leno or Letterman?

Aren't you sick and tired of being sick and tired of The Prez trying to fix the economy and 8 years of absolutely terrible foreign policy only to be harassed and strangled by right-wing Republicans whose physical features and dinosaur politics seem older than Moses' sermon on the mount?

Don't you think that even Ray Charles on heroin or Steven Wonder with braids shielding his eyes can see that you need to call a moratorium on all life as routine, all politics as b.s., and all stress and strain of go-get-em city life and get away?

But where do you want to travel this summer?

Well, I want to go to Ireland or Ghana. But, most of all, I want to go back to Madrid, Spain. I was there a few years ago and couldn't believe how well I was treated and how comfortable I felt there.

First, wherever I went, I was given a smile that seemed genuine.

Second, I was treated as a person, not a stereotype based on "other" preconceptions--as in possible robber, rapist, thug or Negro who is "an exception to your race." As a black man, to be treated as an individual and not a stereotype was very important to me.

Third, and this was unbelievable, the police looked out for me. They were concerned about pick pockets and protected him and other tourists from them. I heard that the government looks out for the tourist-- tries to make sure it's a good experience, so they'll come back. Still, it was some good looking out.

Fourth, they laughed at my pathetic attempt to speak Espano but, in the end, smiled and patted me on the back for trying, saying, as I left, "Thanks for visiting. Come back again."

As I sat in the plane waiting for it to lift off, I drafted this travel poem to say thanks to the people of Madrid who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like more than a stereotype or tourist. They made me feel like a man:

**********************************************************************

Goodbye, Madrid

1

Goodbye-
Old, restored building, and columns soaring
to blue skies capped with domes and horses and
bells that toll for me

2

Goodbye-
Young girls, quick teens, sweet teens with smooth faces like
a baby's bottom, with small abs and be-jeweled navels above
jeans clinging tightly to bone hips and moist places and
attired like strippers from red-light districts but smiles like
cinnamon and a charm so innocent you want to
buy them ice cream and send them home to mother

3

Goodbye-
Old men and women, goodbye, loving couple, holding
hands while strolling narrow, crowded streets
watchful as she shifts her shawl, smiling between
taps from his cane.

3

Goodbye-

Liana Cafe, goodbye cafe owner on narrow street off
Plaza Mayor, wearing smudged apron, clear eyes and a
broad smile, jesting
The Daddy's espano' is "worse than your Mr. Bush," slapping
a brotha's broad shoulders into a narrow street, saying
"Gracias! Gracias! Gracias, por su visita!"

Goodbye-
Banker, short and balding and eyes deep-set eyes who
with bank closed, unlocked the front door to apologize, to
say,"Come back next morning. I assist you."
(Won't happen in US!).

4

Goodbye, Madrid
Good friends with deep-set but nice warm eyes and
open hearts
Goodbye. The Daddy's home awaits a tired but sated traveler
with strolling feet swollen but low spirits lifted and
heart soothed

Adios!
**************

Where do you want to travel this summer?