The Returnees

The Returnees

for Doug & Meredith


Somewhere in motion
Savant and Miss M are--
on huge train wheels,
or on their own pins,
or in a shuttle,
or in the mighty Prius,
moving, traveling, steaming hotly
toward Redwing Manor where
the boy and the cat
and the utility bills wait;
and their imaginations
are inflated with
a multitude of symbols
and diverse visualizations
they now carry with them,
all Smithsonian
and District of Columbia related;
perhaps with indigestion
from cafes and restaurants
and the train dining cars,
perhaps with new knowledge
because three dimensional artifacts
have changed their personal sense
of history,
perhaps with bags of souvenirs
that will gather dust some day
after the first flush
of nostalgia has ebbed,
perhaps with cameras
and iphones swelled
with hundreds of images
that will be edited
and perused for days
after their return;
for the Lake awaits them,
and the trees bending
near their porch
rub trunks in greeting
as the travelers rumble
across the back porch
and enter the kitchen,
heavy bags in each hand,
wearing funny hats,
and Groucho glasses.


Glenn Buttkus March 2010