Dulce María Loynaz: I am like the traveler who arrives at a port where no one waits for her

This little poem called “The Traveller” by a Cuban poetess Dulce María Loynaz (1902-1997) is on my mind these days. It’s very atmospheric and in just a few lines it conveys a sense of loneliness very well, also it makes me think of a story in my mind; the poem is like a springboard for other literary exploration for me.

Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise by the Sea, 1821

The Traveller

I am like the traveler
who arrives at a port where no one waits for her;
I am the shy traveler who walks
among other people’s embraces and smiles
which are not for her…
Like the lone traveler
who turns up the collar of his overcoat
in the chill of the great wharf…