Carparthian Break

[FranktheFrank]

Our communal breath held tight with the seat
buckles as the plane descended in the Carpathian
dusk. Sunlight glinting on titanium wings.

We landed with a tremendous jolt, then asked to clap
the pilot despite a hard landing. He grinned
as we disembarked, teeth daring us to complain.

Cheap air travel comes at a cost, security barked
like seals as we panned out through their tortuous
processes. Has the iron curtain really come down?

A cash machine doled out forty thousand
Hungarian florins, hardly fitting in my pockets.
Ten thousand buys a meal of sorts.

People in the streets react to a wave or a smile
with dead pans faces, don't they know they are free?
Sales staff stern at our infractions like prison guards.

The woman in charge of the sauna fanned super heated
steam. I baked then roasted before running to the deep bath.
Don't do it they cried it's a near death experience.

Comatose as she guided me to the relaxation room
murmuring sweet nothings. Her hands expressive
of her tenderness.

[BobBradshaw]

I like the first 3 stanzas best. I would remove the fourth stanza. The last line is telling.

[FranktheFrank]

Again, a new name has dragged this up from the depths,
I only workshopped it out of courtesy to you.

Thanks for the input.