How to Return Home

By: Sara Aslagson-Sahar

 

Grab your bag and meet your friend outside the airport. Jump in their car

And remind yourself that you are done crying.

Regale them with tales and be a surprise to your family.

Cradle your mother in a hug and remember that your personal puzzle piece came from this spot.

 

Do not, linger on thoughts of the people you said good-bye to.

Do not, think of cobblestone streets and the food you could once eat.

Do not, yearn to return because there is no going back.

There is no time traveling. Only unraveling of memories longer than string.

 

Do not think about them. Do not think about them. Do not think about them.

Do not sink into a depression. Do not need a therapist.

Do not go home and cry yourself to sleep wishing you were elsewhere.

Some say the story never ends, just changes location. But that’s a lie.

You know that the story has ended.

 

Do brush yourself off, hang up photos, and think of all the memories not represented.

Do smile and turn around, click off the light, and socialize in this once familiar location.

As if your world hasn’t shattered and moved on without you.

 

 

 

Modeled after Ross Gay’s “How to Fall in Love with Your Father”