Could You Imagine a Whole Week . . .
The trident mark’s on everything I see
a song demands surrender, reaches me
on gentle evening breezes.
Sea colors dazzle, warm wind seduces
wave sounds soothe, a disco beat confuses.
A path winds falsely through some native trees
We’re isolated from the real life on these cays
Back to the people, face open to sea
Nothing exists but here, and us, and me
This is paradise as it was never meant to be.
The week began before we ever got here
It ends two days before our day trip home
The singer praises New York for the masses
But we exist in our minds alone.
We lay our bodies out beside the pool
Some future tribute to the ozone gods, an act of fools
Or suffering endured to wear a story back
That we escaped the classroom, office, rules
And bought ourselves exposure to the sun
Free food, drinks, sex, songs and fun
And paid, in the exquisite coin of pain,
For skin as dark as servants we disdain.
The bar begins before our minds are cleansed
All we want is freedom, a caffeine fix, the company of friends.
The staff exude content and harbored lives;
The guests are working hard at having fun.
The village chief is best as village fool
His staff are happy to be free of school
Like wine or cheese, they’re fresh and barely aged
All bronzed and mellow in their gilded cage
The food and beds are always made,
The boys and girls are often laid,
The dance goes on, the music never stops.
But really, no one ever truly talks.
They raised a fresh new flag today
But no wind came to let it have its say.
A dolphin came to swim among the skiers
In noonday sun, I cannot tell you why
The land at night is darker than the sky.
About this: The title was a 1980’s promotional slogan for Club Med resorts. We went, we saw, we noted the contradictions.