“Some maps clearly mark
the exits we need”
—Luisa A. Igloria, “Meander“
You will study the maps,
make a plan, pack
the right clothes, only to find
yourself in a different country,
the one you didn’t know
you needed to explore.
It is here you find the answers
to the unspoken questions.
Here is the journal written
in a language you can’t understand.
Here the box of letters
written between two souls
you do not know.
Here you pledge to drink from a dirty
glass, to ignore all your dusty duties.
Here you will ride the beast that scares
you most, the elephant or the motorcycle,
the couple married multiple decades
or mornings of solitary coffee.
Listen for the wind to whisper
your name. Go where the wind commands.
The rains will wash
away all evidence of your longing.
Eat the mush of memory.
Remember every dreary breakfast.
Resolve to find the fiber of your existence.