Natasha Sekar Ayu
Nov 3 · 2 min read

Sunday Memory Lane

Pure cat purrrr

It’s not easy to write about my hometown

It has an odd sense of humor and logic at times

Maybe they thought it was cheeky naming the city that way


It’s the city where you can get a really cheap kimchi from a local supermarket

Along with a stack of chips

And you’re bringing a suitcase of them home


Some people talk about coffee like they will legitimately die without it

These caffeine zombies just don’t know how to function without ones


It’s where you feel a moment of bliss

When an elderly couple sitting on a local park for a date

Giving love a chance


It’s where you learned the hard way to live independently at the age of 14


It’s where students and homeless meet

Too shy to converse

You’re gonna assume people that live in this city don’t like to walk around

And it’s true


The food? The food!

It’s joy! Try to sniff!

It’s good, isn’t it?


Don’t get me started with the soccer team

The team is trying to appeal to the identity of the city and it makes total sense to someone who grew up there


It’s where you spent your days, alone, for months

When your father left

Right after he picked you up from a basketball practice


And it’s also where you meet everyone on a particular coffee shop

Someone from your neighborhood to your elementary school nemesis

Because it’s the only place that open on national holidays


It’s where the rich get paranoid about having too much money they build houses like a fucking fortress

Also where your mother put a huge ass oil painting of Joker on living room wall


As much as I want to get away from this city, it’s always feels good to be missed and be here

A comfort and an affliction


This concrete, heavy dreams crafted here

And this city lights up my dream, still


This city is timeless

Because it’s always the same, boring place

With many hearts waiting, wanting, and wondering

Natasha Sekar Ayu

Written by

Hopelessly romantic cynic. Surviving suburban boredom and morbid fascinations with train wrecks.

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