I’ve traveled by myself, and I’ve gone with tour groups
And the thing about solo journeys is this
With trips anywhere when you’re on your own
You can manage the mass of knowledge you absorb
I’m talking about limiting this avalanche by choice
Maybe due to age, retention of information gets harder
And in order to cope, when I have the choice to do so
I can shut down periodically to fully process what I can
With tour groups it’s different because you don’t get to choose
The information flows like a river raging its course
It’s not a fact faucet that you can turn off at will
It’s more like an avalanche you can’t escape
I’m on a tour now where the information pounds me
A hammer ringing true at a perpetual motion forge
Although I suppose I could stop listening altogether
What I’m learning on this journey demands constant attention
If you’ve been to Dachau, not even the worst of the camps
Then you share an experience of what I mean by exposure
Vast volumes of facts and figures, and heartbreaking photos
Retention skill be damned, you honor the murdered with attention
You need to hear and see it all, carry what you can with you forever
Because this is a horror we must never forget, nor for me, ever forgive
Lanning Lee 