Flight

 

Trip to Minnesota. 

Terrifying turbulence. 

First flight. Mostly silence.

I don’t recognize the relatives who pick me up. 

I’ve only seen photos of this college where they drop me off. I don’t know anyone.

I find my room. Maybe I can find myself. 

I talk to nice people quick and clean. 

Heart empty. Compass gone.

I follow the crowd remembering my mom saying, “Go have an adventure,” shopping, restaurants, movies, swimming pool, desert rain perfume, Inca dove calls, mountains, sunsets, saguaros, scorpions, palm trees, rattle snakes, roadrunners, hot breezes, cold air conditioning.

Turbulence ebbs as my arid soul steels.