I go on a drive looking for my old self.
I listen to old music and sing along. Dixie Chicks and Bob Dylan,
Songs from my childhood that have bled into my young adult years.
The leaves have barely changed
As the season of summer is about to leave for the year.
Saturday, 79 degrees, and endless blue skies
Guide my way as I drive a route
I once swore I'd never return to.
Too many loops, too scary, too many unknowns.
This is my second time on this road this month
I got lost the first time and made the experience less than thrilling,
Trying to navigate a road by memory without second guessing
Myself takes serious concentration.
Now, I'm going back and forth up a hill,
Reminding myself that this is where I first felt car sickness.
I didn't find my old self, she's no longer around.
Instead, I was reminded of how much I've grown
Since I've been on this road and how much
I'm still scared of the great unknown.
Summer Before Fall
The end of summer is near.
I sit in the shade out back
and listen to the last
of the summer sounds.
Noises of insects sounding
like frogs in the afternoon.
Kids are walking home
from school, leaves are
preparing to change
colors soon. What to do?
Nothing but observe
the small airplane flying
overhead before
reminding myself
it is best not to
move my head.
No Fireworks in September
A single sound shoots through the summer night. It’s loud and fast and gone before I can comprehend what is happening. There are no rippling sounds that fade into the darkness. No colors flying across the sky. No screams for help. As I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon, I’ve only heard this sound twice, at different times the last two nights. My only response to hearing such a jarring noise is looking out the window, texting a friend who is sleeping in the room across from mine, and locking the door. I don’t have time to be concerned about what I do not know. My mind is too busy to be distracted by external worries at this present moment.
One Year with Abnormally Puffy Eyes
I was in a McDonald’s bathroom somewhere in Iowa.
I was exhausted from a weekend full of family time and walking
around the Minnesota State Fair.
My dad and I had left a few hours before dawn and began the long drive back home.
As soon as we got on the road, I instantly fell back asleep,
holding the old stuffed animal dog I got as a Christmas gift when I was 8.
We had stopped at McDonald’s to get breakfast and pee.
I was washing my hands when I noticed how glaringly puffy my eyes were.
What is going on?
I thought as I poked the puffy skin around my eyes, taking in this unfamiliar sight.
I walked away from the mirror to leave,
only to return seconds later to stare at this unusual occurrence once more.
I chalked it up to not enough sleep and too much driving and walking
within a short period of time (something I’m not known to do).
This conclusion reassured me enough to leave the restroom without panicking.
I can’t remember if I asked my dad if he noticed anything different.
If I did, he probably just told me the same thing I told myself: it’s nothing.
We got back in the car and continued our long journey home.
As we were merging back onto the highway, I checked my puffy eyes
once again through the camera app on my phone.
In natural light, they were still puffy.
It’s fine. It’s fine. I just need more sleep.
Oh, the stories we tell ourselves in the moment so we don’t obsessively wonder
what bad things could be happening.
XXVI
I’m older than I was but I still feel quite young.
Birthdays aren’t as celebratory the older I get.
It’s just another age that takes a whole year
To adjust to saying, only to have to change it
When my birthday comes along again.
There’s nothing special about turning 26
Except for health insurance and my license expires.
As a kid, I thought I would have everything
Figured out by this age. Turns out, there’s no trick
To being an adult, everyone’s just winging it
And processing things in the moment.
So cheers to another year of figuring things out
As they happen and learn not to stress about
Things that haven’t happened yet.
Always a Kid
For the majority of people, no matter
How old you get, the dynamic with
Your family members never change.
Your dad is still your dad, mom is still
Your mom, siblings are still your siblings.
Years can pass and as soon as you get back
Into the same room or are stuck together
For a significant amount of time, it's like
Time has stood still and you're a kid once more,
Only now you're old enough to be the DD
And you can drop them off at the beach.
I Don’t Remember Your Name But I Do Remember Where You Live
If you take to me some place new,
then tell me to find my way back
without using a map or phone,
I can do it.
I could not be paying attention,
distracted by the screen in my hand
or the music I'm listening to,
and I'd still be able to find the street
I've only been on once before.
I can go to places I don't go to often,
the desert of my childhood,
the busy city that never sleeps,
the quiet down by coast
where my mother was born
and instantly know where I'm heading.
I can hear your name five times
and recognize your face
before I remember your name.
I could be paying close attention,
listening to what you're saying,
nodding with every detail,
and walk away remembering your story
with no idea of what your name is.
If you tell me your name,
I will forget it five seconds
after I hear it.
Morning Crossword
The open screen door lets the cool morning air into the kitchen. Water is heating in a pot that’s on a circle plugged into the wall sitting on the counter. I open my computer and do a New York Times’ crossword puzzle as I wait for the boiling point. When I hear the circle turn off from a click on the top of the pot, I grab a mug, pour the water, add a tea bag, and return to the crossword. The more I do crossword puzzles, the easier they become. My double vision comes and goes depending on what angle my eyes are facing. I grab a sweater to warm the goosebumps on my arm. My day usually begins this way. Some details may shift just slightly but it’s more or less like this.
Patterns of Summer Rain
I look out to the west to see
the mountains have vanished
underneath a blanket of heavy
rain clouds. For hours, I wait for
the rain to fall. Sometimes, it comes
and passes within minutes. Other times,
like today, it lingers for hours, teasing
its arrival while never actually
making its way to the plains.
II
There’s a split in my reality
every morning and night.
When what I see doubles
into this hallucination like state,
my brain is confused. My eyes
don’t work together for longer than
twelve hours a day. Individually,
they’re fine. Left is down
and right is up. If I cover one,
my vision is single and up
or single and down.
Whatever I’m looking at
will move to a different space
without me moving my head.
I try my best to fight it until
my eyes are no longer cooperating
and I’m forced to go to bed.
Kelly Severseike 