month 6
Updated: Jan 29, 2020
Reflecting on the travels we make and the discarded pieces of ourselves that we leave behind. Here's a poem for month 6.
when something is temporary
when something is temporary it’s ok to not put down roots
you’ll only be there for a few days so you don’t have to (bother)
take your clothes out of the suitcase
or hang up your coat in the closet.
just leave it on the back of the chair
when you come in the door
and kick your shoes off wherever
it’s ok to track in dirt just this once
this is temporary
when something is temporary,
it’s ok to live on your screen, removed
because you’re documenting the experience
to remember for later
when you’re living somewhere not so finite
it’s ok to not go out at night
with people you’d have to small talk with
to a bar in a part of town you don’t really know
because you might as well get a good sleep
and be fully charged for the next, more permanent adventure
but even though it was temporary, you’ll discover at your next destination
that you forgot your toothbrush in the bathroom when you left
and when you took your hat off on that too-hot bus,
you put it on the seat beside you,
instead of taking it with you when you got off
and though you didn’t consider it temporary at the time,
you’ve realized that you’ve misplaced that certain kind of laughter
that you shared with her in the library
left behind the loving look that your mom gave you through the rearview mirror
as you sat in the backseat on the way home from soccer practice
and you left behind your 20’s in the subway
commuting too long for too many days
because you lived too far away
in a city that was too expensive
and you left your favorite sneakers in the hotel last month
because they were old and let the rain in
and didn’t fit in your suitcase
since you had filled it with new souvenirs
hopefully those will last
and you lost your indignity when indignity became everyday
and you’re pretty sure that his phone number is still
in the back of your mind somewhere
if you ever had the time to go back and look for it
though you’re not sure you want to
but though i wasn’t here last week
and i won’t be here tomorrow
i am here today
and that is something
and somethings aren’t temporary
somethings are something
that we can’t leave behind