Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Traveler's Companion
    The Traveler's Companion
    The Traveler's Companion
    Ebook73 pages28 minutes

    The Traveler's Companion

    By Rick Campbell

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "Campbell's poems are personal, even intimate, but their metaphors and meanings have a broad and tough reality."
    --Iron Horse Literary Review

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRick Campbell
    Release dateSep 15, 2011
    ISBN9781465707321
    The Traveler's Companion
    Author

    Rick Campbell

    Rick Campbell, a retired Navy Commander, spent more than twenty years on multiple submarine tours. On his last tour, he was one of the two men whose permission was required to launch the submarine's nuclear warhead-tipped missiles. Campbell is the author of The Trident Deception, Empire Rising and Ice Station Nautilus, and lives with his family in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

    Read more from Rick Campbell

    Related to The Traveler's Companion

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Until The Sea Closed Over Us And The Light Was Gone

      Jul 1, 2020

      —Dante, Canto XXVI But if the truth is dreamed of toward the morning—El Paso Although it was really last summer’s song,all this summer Despacito played on as slower then I turned myself to gazeupon Juarez. The summer everything hurts my eyes, a dozen

      6 min read

    • Article

      As the World Collapses

      Jul 27, 2017

      As the World Collapses
      7 min read

    • Article

      Stop Hating on Adjectives!

      Jun 12, 2019

      A common admonition in creative writing pedagogy is, “Cut as many adjectives as possible.” I propose that this rule springs from mere prejudice. The post Stop Hating on Adjectives! appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Guiding Presence

      May 18, 2020

      Guiding Presence
      7 min read

    • Article

      Body Language

      Aug 14, 2019

      Body Language
      5 min read

    • Article

      Following The Flow

      Aug 31, 2019

      Following The Flow
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Home Stretch

      Sep 24, 2021

      The Home Stretch
      6 min read

    • Article

      Rebel Love

      Dec 20, 2018

      Rebel Love
      8 min read

    • Article

      Parting the Waters

      Dec 29, 2022

      Parting the Waters
      12 min read

    • Article

      Shoulder Season

      Aug 17, 2017

      Shoulder Season
      8 min read

    • Article

      Finding Home

      Jul 5, 2022

      Finding Home
      4 min read

    • Article

      Otherworldly

      Jan 7, 2020

      Otherworldly
      4 min read

    • Article

      Fish Hippies

      Jul 13, 2021

      Fish Hippies
      12 min read

    • Article

      An Era In Fayetteville

      Aug 13, 2019

      An Era In Fayetteville
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ride Of Passage

      May 17, 2021

      Ride Of Passage
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mountain Time

      Jan 1, 2021

      In the air you don’t know who you are or where My own self feels it is in wind being born These are currents a man made one eighth of smokeless fire fears but chooses A path south from Anchorage to a Mountain House Ungovern the northern land to pass

      10 min read

    • Article

      A Winter’s Tale

      Dec 29, 2020

      A Winter’s Tale
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ride Of Passage

      May 17, 2021

      Ride Of Passage
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gringo Honeymoon

      May 17, 2021

      Gringo Honeymoon
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gringo Honeymoon

      May 17, 2021

      Gringo Honeymoon
      5 min read

    • Article

      Now I Lay Me

      Sep 9, 2021

      Now I Lay Me
      13 min read

    • Article

      Poetry of Place

      May 30, 2023

      Poetry of Place
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Traveler's Companion

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Traveler's Companion - Rick Campbell

      THE TRAVELER'S COMPANION

      1. By Train

      When traveling by train

      pretend to sleep sprawled across the seat

      until someone you want to sleep

      with comes down the aisle. Wake

      suddenly, make a show of gathering yourself

      to give away your shared seat.

      Be a flower opening

      in your companion's startled eyes. Be

      an invitation. If it doesn't work

      pretend to sleep again. There is still

      time for another false blooming.

      2. On the Sea

      Aboard ship, take a lover.

      Something in the rolling

      drums inside your loins.

      You start to feel your need

      like some arthritic damp weather augury.

      Alone, you neglect your desires

      and act like a sullen child.

      You resent the stone tethered

      around your neck and want to send yourself

      to an aunt in Joliet so you can

      enjoy the trip in peace.

      3. By Bus

      Between cornfields

      and railroad tracks,

      inside a fence of silos

      we ride through a town late at night.

      In the yellow of her room

      a woman looks out the window

      at the bus. Her hips know

      that Erie is no moonstruck lover,

      just a town where half of us change

      for Chicago, half for New York.

      4. What to Look For

      When visiting churches

      glance at the statues. Be sure

      they aren't bleeding. Admire

      the gold leaf, the blue in the stained

      glass. Rub your hands along the woodwork.

      Think of sins,

      like a thousand beaded abacus,

      each bead slid slowly

      through your memory. Watch light

      gather in a corner pew and glance

      against a pillar. Sit and let

      each beam find you, whirl you to the center.

      Let your life become a prism

      spinning you back into the streets.

      5. Hitchhiking

      You are a lake. Cars are birds.

      You want them to stop.

      Chant and try

      to look like a lover

      they've lost, a one night stand

      on a journey home.

      Stake the ramp. Call

      it yours. Learn to love

      empty beer cans, shards

      of glass, hunks of rubber.

      Read the messages scratched

      on the NO HITCHHIKING sign.

      Three days. Go back.

      Freddy, Columbus '71

      No matter what weather,

      it is always Texas.

      6. Accommodations

      When sleeping out, say

      a freezing night in a rest stop,

      Amarillo, try to remember

      a charm for sunrise. Do not own

      a watch. The night will be endless

      enough. Believe in repetition.

      Because the sun

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1