I.  On the brink of an adventure
But not quite ready to say goodbye.
Bags are packed, tickets already printed,
Too late to change my mind.
I wouldn’t want to anyway.

II.  Paris- a city supposedly filled with love.
Underneath tourist traps and museums
real suffering is found
in homeless living on the streets
in gutters filled with cigarette butts
in natives stumbling drunkenly on the metro.
This city is far from perfection.

III.  There’s no place like home,
Nothing could be closer to the truth.
After hours of walking and sight seeing,
Listening to foreign tongues from strangers’ lips,
I realize every place has secrets;
Some things people aren’t meant to see.