Poetry: Expat Trilogy, Part III

TIME TO GO ALREADY??

Just eight more weeks then out the door; in Switzerland, I’ll live no more
No more moist Kase firm and ripe, nor young ones treading the zebra stripe
Keine church bells ringing a joyful tune, in morning, evening, weekend, noon
No more Hoi!, Gruetzi! or Guten Tag!, but back to daily, work week slog
No TRAMs that rumble on metal feet, nor trains that whiz by sleek and neat
Or breads with seeds and fruits galore, on brimming shelves in nearby store
No Zwanzig Minuten on morning trip, or Blick am Abend to read so quick
Ixnay on stands with veggies fresh, or Wochenmarkt with sausage flesh
That hangs in lovely shape and size, enticing hausfraus with their buys
Of crisp produce, eggs, flowering blooms, mandlebrot and weiss mushrooms
No ancient church of wood and rock, where candles burn around the clock
Their hand forged locks to guard the space, watched oer’ by hero’s marble face
Zilch cows with ringing metal bells, which echo in Swiss hills and dells
No more Akkusative edict frame, like “der to den, die, das the same”
Zip Alp chateau with rock and tile, their fensters adorned in canton style
No hairpin turns on mountain road or trying to remember my postal code
And zero Roman Turms and walls, or monasteries festooned halls
Grossmunster no more to see or Zurich University
Adieu to Dolder and Poly Bahn, and sun on China Garten lawn
The Brockihaus I’ll shop no more, nor pop into the Globus Store,
My American girlfriends helped my stay, with coffee and workshops and trips away

This year soon over to “home” I go, it feels as if three months ago
I landed for a year abroad and wondered at the path I’d trod
In retrospect, I’ve become freed, as life brought to me folks I need
To inspire and nurture my poet’s voice, they cheered and encouraged my vocal choice
For my journey was outside and inside as well, a chance to discard an unflattering shell
To unknot my nitpicking habit of doubt, to climb from deep crevice and finally break out
And release old emotions I’ve tried to repress, and drop my perfectionist need for success
“Not good enough” to “I’m as good as I can be”, my thanks to der Schweiz for my new liberty

—Jocelyn Moore

March 2012