Rushing to begin my digital day.
Music on repeat continues to play.
Rushing to begin my digital day.
Music on repeat continues to play.
Chicago Union Station, Illinois
Déjà vu turns into routine,
my life becomes one movie scene.
Every day is the same,
there are no surprises.
Eventually, this monotony normalizes.
I go to sleep and wake up to yesterday.
I tell myself to find joy in the little things,
but I’m a city bird with restless wings.
And as the holidays approach,
I need one little miracle.
One escape. One adventure.
One more thing to hold onto forever,
as we continue to live life like clockwork.
I know of an old house,
with crumbling patterned wallpaper and rusting photo frames.
Somehow, it holds its ground while continuing to burn in flames.
It consumes those within;
closing its doors behind all those who once curiously came in.
Abandoned for a while now
and forgotten by outsiders,
this house
is not
empty.
It traps its stories inside.
Every mirror reflecting its past glory and ticking clocks recounting its pride.
All those moments gone and memories lost are found within this house.
So I enter hoping to remember;
hoping to reminisce.
And at first,
the sight of old corduroy couches brought me back.
I know these steps, I know these floors.
I know this dining room window light.
And i’ve missed it.
If I could bottle up the way the sun hit the walls every morning
and drink it for breakfast
I would.
I felt comfort in the arms of the past,
trying to make each and every memory last.
But there were holes.
Unfamiliar corners
and new scents
that kept appearing.
Shadows tainting my precious memories
like invasive vines wrapping tightly around a tree.
I was suffocating.
The more time I spent in this house searching
the more it took from me,
until I had to face what I tried to ignore.
Sometimes, what’s lost shouldn’t be looked for.
We start to head down this unraveling midnight road,
and music slips through every word unspoken.
You begin to navigate us to nowhere.
When I cannot fall asleep at night,
I fall apart instead.
I look out the window and try to convince myself,
I know what’s coming ahead.
These silent roads are all intertwined,
and you continue to navigate us to nowhere.
Like a deer in headlights, the conversation changes.
This dynamic is starting to reach new stages,
and I don’t want to be on different pages.
But then you accurately navigate us to nowhere.
We eventually circle back without a hurry.
But this drive has gone by in the blink of an eye,
and now looking back, it’s starting to seem blurry.
So again, can you navigate us to nowhere?
You can feel the midnight rush on her streets
like a constant pulse running through this city.
Everyone that passes by carries a different story.
Even her forgotten corners have their own sense of glory.
But they’re all connected by their love for her.
The kind of love you have when your role model watches you perform;
a tender love of appreciation and intimidation.
She never waits for anyone;
you either learn to run at her pace or you get left behind.
Her sidewalks force children to quickly grow up,
yet she can give you a reason to feel forever young.
She stands as the strongest pedestal for light;
in morning sunrises and evening horizons.
The minute you arrive you never want to leave,
because despite all the lonely dances,
she’ll always have you entranced.
The stroke of autumn colors swipe across the evening sky.
The Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor, Michigan
An every day miracle;
I catch a glimpse as I walk nearby.
Leaves in every shade of red hit the ground,
and crunch beneath my feet with a familiar sound.
Golden rays ricochet off everything it grazes,
and touches my face with soft embraces.
But what I say may not be all real or true.
It is nothing but a rose-filtered view.
And what a wonderful way to view this world,
through my own poetic hue.
To find beauty in paltry, neglected corners;
it is a royal way of living.
You want to share stories and emotions,
but you’re afraid to be open.
So you pause and look out at the ocean,
and count the silences between the waves.
You sit quietly, just listening.
Lake Huron, Michigan
So much history runs through my mind,
and I cannot collect any words to say.
These pulses of anxiety feel unrefined,
but I still want to stay by your side.
So I sit quietly, just listening.
Conflicted with what we want,
we finally reach an impasse.
We pretend to stay nonchalant,
with ebbs and flows of imperfect moments.
We sit quietly, just listening.
Listening for all the unsaid words.
Listening for all the stifled laughter.
Listening to every wave crash on land.
Listening to everyone else around us.
