richer by far

 richer by far

for experiencing the Rhine’s flow

and stoney Roman camps turned towns

windmills’ sweeping sails staying flood

close-fit locks, padlock-by-lovers bridge

castles now ruins or renovated hotels

robber toll-takers replaced

by tourist trinket salesmen

elk-colored herds of wild horses

swooping waterbirds

cathedral spires piercing gold sunsets

family on top deck to drink in history

and laugh and bond among ourselves

richer by far                                

Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

Alisa Hampton

Amsterdam

view from my window in Hotel Estherea on the Singel Canal.

still beside

a week together on the Rhine

and the family still loves each other

it must be the fascinating

juxtapositions of very old beside

so new in towns, many begun

as outlying Roman settlements

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