A walk along the river Vltava,
a cool wind caressing my face,
the voices of restaurant workers
preparing the tables on their moored ship
for lunchtime customers.
Jazz music drifting down the river
from Charles Bridge.
Tourists taking pictures of one another
on Charles Bridge,
at Prague Castle,
while seated in restaurants,
in front of statues,
heck, everywhere one could imagine really.
A hundred million photographs
taken in Prague every day,
I imagine.
A passionate man walks
through the crowds of tourists
yelling loudly something I can’t understand,
while people move out of the way
to let the madman through,
although I think he is just praising his God.
A statue of a man
reaching out of a sewer
begging for alms
(this just below the window
of the medieval tavern,
supposedly the oldest pub in Prague,
since 1375).
A used book store,
the proprietor attempting to torture me
by asking me to buy
a Kafka book in English.
No, no, no.
And then out of nowhere,
a woman telling a companion,
“There will be another day;
it wasn’t meant to be.”
I nod, aye,
not everything is meant to be.
Let’s rejoice in the few things
we do manage to experience in a day.
