hot norwegian summer nights

1.

second in line at the ATM in downtown bergen

the guy pulls his card from the machine

turns to me & says something i can't understand

--what?

--oh, you are american?

--yes

--give me your card because mine no longer has money in it!

2.

it was a long drive thru the fjords 

majestic beauty 

the kind that i thought only exists in paintings

watching a movie on TV 

at the hotel

i look out the window

a fat cloud slowly scuds past

at eye level

beyond it are hills drafted in granite

& painted green with grass 

with a pique of grey at the top

i am in bed & i am flying

3.

i confess

i broke the law

at the bergen aquarium

i reached into the display

& set off the alarm

don't forgive me

i knew what i was doing

& i would do it again

4.

i think of a few thom gunn lines:

'we are the same in different ways

we are different in the same way'

thai food served by a thai woman 

hot food for a hot summer night in bergen, norway

5.

it was here at the top

overlooking bergen

the ride in the funicular

the expansive views 

of the city & the bay 

a troll, yes, a giant troll

the kind my grandmother 

populated her house with

spanked my bottom

don't ask me to explain

i am only here

to tell the tale