Tourists

by Leslie Dianne


The tourists use maps
to navigate the city
they unfurl
billowing sheets
hold onto them like
sails and glide across the
sidewalks in a cluster
forming german, french
and italian shapes with
their hands and mouths

I notice them when they stop
heads together in a circle
like prayer
they pour over
lines and words
finger measure distances
and flip the map
from left to right
they leave their
shadows across
the paper like dolls
they can cut out
and string together

I step close to them
and offer my silhouette
hoping that when
they find their
next destination
they will fold me up
and make me part
of their day
 

* * * * *

Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer whose work has been acclaimed internationally in places such as the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy and at La Mama in NYC.  She received her BA in French Literature from CUNY and her poems have appeared in The Lake, Ghost City Review, The Literary Yard, and About Place Journal.  Her poetry was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.