Max Reif’s most recent poem to appear here was “Light Mother, Dark Mother” (March 2018). 

Traveler’s Replay
By Max Reif

Landing in Fiji again now
on my way back to the states.
Mental pictures of what it was like
heading out, just three weeks ago,
all hope and soft clay.

“That fellow” walking through
the winter evening in Melbourne,
like a déjà vu of San Francisco,
to find his small downtown hotel,
every step brightly scrawling
a small blazing notation
in the Book of Life.

Spying the tiny gold-and-blue sign,
progressively discovering
the “minimalist hotel,” comically
seeming to impersonate a dump,
utilizing such forethought and simplicity
that all conveniences remained invisible
until the very moment of need.

A good laugh at the fun of it,
followed by a realization that now
It’s all become the captive of memory.

Oh, how to free the mind
from imprisoning fire and laughter,
and remain tallow for the new?