Night-Walking

Today we bid farewell to Vienna and arrived in the nearby (about 50 km) town of Wiener Neustadt, home of the Theresianische Militärakademie, where the other cadets and I will be studying/training until December. As I reflected on Vienna, I thought about one of my favorite activities there: night-walking. I loved just going out in the city at about 10 at night and just walking around, sometimes with people and sometimes alone. I feel that walking the city streets at night is a great way to see the city for what it is, and not just for all of the wonderful tourist attractions. I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to write a poem about it, which I included below. Special thanks to my brother Joe and my fiancee Michelle for the poetic advice.

Night-walking
By Dan Kurber

I slip on my shoes and lock up my door
and wonder where my feet will take me.
It’s time for my post-dusk tradition,
It’s time to go night-walking.
Now walking the streets at night
might seem dangerous to some.
But in Vienna I’m not worried,
I feel quite safe night-walking.
I see some high school kids in the park.
Youthful screams and muffled laughter
between drags on cheap cigarettes
paying no mind to my night-walking.
Do their parents know where they are?
After all, it’s a school night.
Oh well, I’m not their dad,
plus I’m rather busy, night-walking.
I walk by an open Kebab stand.
Greasy meat and creamy cucumber sauce.
“Mit alles und scharf, bitte.”
I’ll burn the calories night-walking.
I reach a stretch of bars,
light from the doors and windows illuminating
the backs of tired people sleepily smoking.
I quicken my pace, night-walking.
Past brightly strobing discotheques,
excited twenty-somethings buzzing about girls,
shouting drunkenly over the too-loud music.
I wade through, happily night-walking.
As I hear the familiar scratch of my feet
against my driveway’s rough concrete,
I thank my shoes for the trip and wonder
where I’ll go next, night-walking.