is the same as kissing

anywhere else,

your tongue doesn’t

circle in a different direction

and you still oscillate

between not knowing

whether to open

or close your eyes,

‍

but I needed to realize this myself,

couldn’t just read it

in some traveller’s guide,

so when my travelling companion

attended a Lord of the Rings tour,

I slipped into a sex club instead

which sounds raunchier

than its reality

‍

for it was more about not wanting

to fly 14 hours

into another hemisphere

without kissing someone there

than any overt salacious need.

I guess I’m old-fashioned that way,

though I should be more specific

with my wishes

‍

as the first guy I kissed

hailed from Saskatchewan—

which is akin to travelling

the entire globe

only to find yourself

eating at a McDonald’s.

Like good Canadians

we apologized

for being Canadian,

then moved on to find Kiwis.