Hotel Brindisi
By Jota Boombaba
—One Star, 1980
No fun befriending illness on the road
scratchy sinus, itchy cough, aches and pains, the runs
A fever comes, removes my clothes
folds up all my maps and plans
Dreams of travel travel back to home
romance of discovery subsides
I could die here—quiet, unseen, like those
who make our beds, rinse our basins clean
Tonight, I gargle with some stale Coca-Cola
clutch another colon cramp, catch another fire
The body always brings me back to now
reminders always dripping off my brow
Jota Boombaba, when not on the road, writes in and around San Francisco, where he lives and kicks back with his son. Catch him most days at
www.jotaboombaba.com.