And we have seen six marvelous ones
in four days—

we Came From Away to see Emma
finagle relationships, including,
unknowingly, hers,

were swept back to 2001 with
the plane people and their gracious
hosts in Gander,

watched a shrew tamed (and saw her
tame a husband, too),

were Cordially Invited to the End of the World
and wept watching it almost as much
as we laughed,

awoke from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
with perhaps the best fairies (and donkey)
we’ve ever seen,

and found ourselves drawn in by
the complexity of Yellow Face, only
to drive back to our temporary home
and learn that our host is an understudy
for the female lead.

We stood in her back yard under a smoky
night sky, marveling at it all, as we took
turns bending to pet Coconut, our actress
host’s cute white dog,

grateful for all these plays that are,
indeed, the wondrous things that
transport us to so many places
we would otherwise never, happily, go.

•••

With thanks to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
for their amazing plays this season, along with our
gratitude to our generous Air B&B host Julie Oda
and her family.