Life Unturned — A poem
turn on this roundabout,
I see the colors of distant lands.
all meddling on one bustling street,
they remind you of home
in every bite and every word.
the sky says it’s sorry
for its overcast state.
drips that fall over the bridge.
I walk on the distant lane,
the lights illuminate the path.
I wonder about the sandy beaches
and the thatched roofs of the moors,
all the memory in one place
all the people talk at once.
I sit on a bench
in a nearby park.
it was covered in delicate dew.
I stood up to breathe
the fresh morning breeze
and I close my eyes
I see the mountains meditating
to the sound of rustling trees
and the soft song of the songbirds
terrorizing the cedars
and I open my eyes
I see the time in the distance.
time never stops for anyone.
I leave with my watery imprint
on the cold wooden bench.
I drink from a cup,
Venti Starbucks.
my gran always told me
I spend too much on coffee.
my gran should run Starbucks
I would pay them twice.
her words run into my ears
like her smooth coffee
down my throat,
old stories and new
about sailors and tyrants.
it flows like the Thames
and stops nevermore.
no time like the present,
the shirt screams,
in bright colors of blue and green
hanging from a shop.
what does it know about life
or the flow of it,
it knows of perhaps
another life
in which it lived
how it now preaches.
-Rhea Agrawal
