There she goes,
She boards the plane
Offering a small smile
Maybe of reassurance,
I don't really know
Held against her body is her spanking new carry-on
Tightly packed with a sweater for warmth
A familiar toothbrush
And squishy bottle of paste
And somewhere
Somewhere in there
Is a photo
Blanketed by shiny plastic
Reminding her to not forget.
Not forget the splashes on the beach
Frivolous dress-up days
The hushed exchanges of laughter sparked by a dying flashlight
She promises to write all the time
E-mails, not letters in envelopes,
Saturated with digital images
So I can be with her during the “big move.”
Do I want to be with her there in that foreign land?
To be honest, no, not really.
I want to bathe in the familiarity here
I'm scared of the unknown
A different view of the sun
The absurd expectations over there
No, I just want to stay here.