On My Way to Austria By Rayne Affonso

On My Way to Austria

All swift-footed, carrying far too much,
A stranger took me for a nighttime stroll.
And Schönbrunn, only inches from my touch,
Became the mission of another soul.
I had to keep myself from dissolving
In rings around the cadence of his song, 
So we sit and watch the world evolving
Until the stars go back where they belong.
No place that exists beyond my stranger
Would amount to our loge above the rest.
If Alsergrund burnt, I couldn’t save her
And leave where I am home to be a guest.
For his song echoes when we’re driving past
The oldest cities this love will outlast. 

Rayne Affonso is an upcoming BIPOC writer from Trinidad and Tobago, where she currently is pursuing a BA in Spanish and Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies. Her poetry has been published in The Daphne Review, Diverse Voices Quarterly, and Pilcrow & Dagger. This year, she won first place in the Spectrum Poetry Competition hosted by Renard Press.