Summer Bum Tour of the Country Pt. 1: Preliminary Planning

So I decided recently that I want to see more of America than just the Shenandoah Valley. Unless unforeseen difficulties arise, I will be on the road from 7/12- The planned route, as of writing this, is as follows:

• DC to Denver - $115
• Denver to Vancouver, WA - $170
• Vancouver to LA - $85
• LA to Austin - $125
• Austin to New Orleans - $75
• New Orleans to Atlanta - $25
• Atlanta to Richmond - $50

Travel expenses, including funds for taxi/Uber, amount to approximately $750. Adding in another $150 in cash and at least $500 in the bank, the whole trip should cost less than $1400. 

As for the aims of mounting such an excursion, I plan to write detailed notes about my travels during the long bus hours between stops. Who I met, where I ate/drank, what was I wearing- all the little details will be included. Maybe I could even work my notes into a full-sized novel when it's all over. Who knows?

The Unbeliever

I could wax poetic about the loss of innocence,

the awkward-sad tumble into adulthood,

beginning at teen-age and tangling up your limbs ‘til your twenties.

I could go on about all sorts of global injustice,

about the campaign of terror being waged in the Philippines,

or the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.

I could write tome after tome on love long lost,

a volume out of “I miss you. Please come home.”

until I rid myself of that final teardrop.

In their stead, I write the praise of the common sinner,

the unbeliever, the debauched heretic,

heir to the throne of kings of men,

ere he rises once again.

Building his kingdom atop a foundation of lessons hard-learned

No adherent of the faith is he

No dogmatic devotion to hold him back

No clergymen or handlers to cast influence

Convictions forged in the white-hot flame of a life well-lived

Does he know right from wrong?

Is there a wrong and a right?

He can tell the black from the white,

but finds life more fulfilling lived in the in-between.

Grey stone towers grasp at grey clouds,

and a grey stone keep climbs the grey horizon behind them.

Seated in the grey throne room is our friend the unbeliever,

ruling over a great grey kingdom.

Flipping The Lid

As I reach the bottom
of a yet another cup of yesterday's coffee,
I begin to quiver
like a drawn arrow.

All atwitter with thought,
overclocked,
firing on all cylinders,
I set about
laying out
some eloquent dissertation on my blunted affect
or crippling self doubt
or other such complaints.

Some sympathetic story
sans self-esteem
seems to be my wheelhouse.

What if I flipped the lid and said
that I feel okay about myself?

That I'm not the worst,
and people would care if I was gone.

That I've gained
more than I've lost,
despite losing
a lot.

That I can be resilient
even if I don't realize it right away.

Would I be ill-received?