Back from vacation

Vacation is a wonderful illusion
If...you are lucky,
And I have not been lucky from time to time,
And everything works out and you cut loose
From the norm and everything is rosy
And the sun shines brightly
Or not, if you don't want sunshine,
And the place in which you find yourself
Is beautiful and lovely
And captures your heart and sends
You flying into the bright cerrulean
Like the bluebird of happiness
Winging your way into serenity
And being carefree
And finding love
And joy
And peace.

Hah!
If your luggage isn't lost and the plane's on time
And the food isn't forgettable
And the waiter isn't snooty
Or the hostess doesn't hate you
And seats you near the kitchen
And it doesn't rain all the time
And your partner isn't sick
Or overly sad
Or wishing she were elsewhere
Or wanting something to change
Or be different, or better, in some way,
Especially you

And you could have gone somewhere else
Or at a more temperate time of the year
Or chosen a different mode of transportation
Or made reservations at a better motel
Or used a more reliable rent a car company
Or leased a bigger car or reserved a larger bed
Or it wasn't soft enough or hard enough
Or the maid was nowhere to be found
And she didn't clean your room like your mother would
Or on time
Or she knocked on your door at an inopportune time
When you were just enjoying a little moment
Of peace and quiet
Or trying to turn this whole vacation around,
If you know what I mean.

And then you returned to the grey clouds
And the rainy misery of the work a day world,
The place you set out to leave in the first place,
That always awaited you at the end of the week
Like the shadow behind the closet door,
A familiar shade, grinning in the darkness:

Bon Voyage.