Here
Sierra Drummond, TESS 131
I’ve recently enjoyed the comfort of other noise in my homeNot directed at me but through me, an inescapable reminder of company, that I’m not aloneI hadn’t felt publicly alone in months, just in public, then alone, they aren’t extremes that I condonebut I moved into a new home that invites guests on its ownwhere my heart feels a bit more kept by those that I know& there’s this lovely little greeting I’m lucky to be met withBy the white-haired women who sell the fish and the herbsour exchanges aren’t built by very many wordsThey embrace me with a gentle touch of my forearm, a sign I’m seen, and loved, to lengths I did nothing to receiveIt’s simple but it means absolutely everything to meHere I wear my smile like armor and like a welcome matThis duality fits me to be an emotional acrobatHere I’m not so certain what version of me I’d like to beJust try to keep my eyes open & see all there is to see“Yes” is more an exhale than a decision made these daysOn days that I feel down, “Yes” can send a friend my way“Yes” ensures that absolutely all my time is spent& “Yes” makes me always, usually, happy that I wentYet still should I make a do-better-book, filled with times I left to waste?In skipping through scenes and resisting spaceTo sit in thoughts that might make time something I should embrace?I’ll just enjoy the powdered faces and drink the powdered drinksand try not to hate a growing silhouette I’d like to shrinkI’ll feel the distorted bass lines and evade the swarming fliesI’ll wonder why I still hesitate to claim my life as mineI’m sure that I’ll still fill some voids with sticky rice and wineI’m sure a smile from a student will stifle any urge to cryI’ll know that, here, at my lowest, I often fly to my peakI think the purest form of life is when it changes week to week