The Hills Are Alive…

Interlaken, Switzerland
I went to Switzerland with the hopes of finding some solitude and possibly finding myself.

That was what this whole trip was all about. I think somewhere along the line I subconsciously set aside thinking and started to just have fun instead. There’s nothing wrong with that, but time is becoming a factor again. Presently I have seven weeks until acclimation back to life back home. A home that has changed since I’ve been away. I left Denmark unbeknownst to most people. I wanted a weekend alone to travel into the unknown and have those experiences travel through me. Interlaken is where my 16-hour train arrived.

Walking the dark, unfamiliar streets reminded me of another long walk I took just before I left for Europe. The purposes of both walks were to step away from myself and what was going on around me and just appreciate life at that particular moment. As I glanced around gigantic shadows loomed watching me from high above. The morning would reveal those mountains and in the afternoon I was among them. I am among them. High above the world I commune with nature and myself. The Swiss Alps surround me with the brisk air and a bright sun shining. This place is too beautiful. Beyond the Swiss village and tourists I found a bench where I am writing this entry. Mostly I just sit here and stare at the mountains and listen. I try to hear the sounds around me and what my mind is thinking.

Directly below me is a tiny wooden house. The man living there has been mending a fence ever since I sat down. I wonder what he does all year round. I wonder how he earns money. I wonder if he sees the same mountains as I do. One gets accustomed to beauty and only time away can make them appreciate what is so near and sublime. I think he could very easily have been me. And it is he who is looking down at me.

Do you ever think “What if…?” What if I had been born in Riomaggiore, Italy; or Eos, Greece; or Arhus, Denmark? Then I would have been someone else. I’ll always wonder.

The sun slipped slowly behind a large tree and cast a chilly shadow on me. I collected my notebook and my thoughts and slowly walked down the path with my neck craned taking in every last mental snapshot. Who knows when or if I’ll ever return? My return to Denmark is imminent and I’ll return with a refreshed feeling. I have learned copious things about myself on this journey. There are things that need to be changed, things that need to be improved, things that need to be created. I will make those adjustments and I will fail, but I will incessantly try again.

These are the poems I wrote while on that trip to Switzerland.
untitled #49
he watches the bar fill up
along with his pilsner glass
the third and counting cup
as he watches the mingling mass
words on paper and thoughts in head
fill his notebook and mind
things to say and things left unsaid
assuming he has time to find
he lives his life to think
but has little to say
with each additional drink
his mind wanders away
he’s far away from home
while looking to explore
searching for places to roam
seeking answers and more
this temporal lifestyle
will soon cease
he’ll face reality in a while
and search for personal peace
it’s a mission beyond some
but it will rise soon
enlightenment yet to come
like that of a full moon

untitled #52
does nature make you curious?
or is your brain too serious?
with lakes and hills before you
do they implore or ignore you?
do they whisper a speech to you?
and if they do—does it reach to you?
the lakes leak my mistakes
the hills heal my chills
while the cloud makes me proud
and the stream makes me dream
listen to the breeze
and set your mind at ease

wood words
voices come from the forest
like some natural chorus
they rise among the trees
filling my ears on the breeze
sound of leaves, creeks, and birds
sounds of nature without words—
yet i listen anyway to their voices
whispering my infinite choices