My world

Was a novelty snow globe.

Encased in the glass

Was familiar streets

And familiar faces

That I knew my whole life.

Going beyond the city lines

Was like going out to sea,

In a tiny, wooden boat

Paddling over the waves 

As a bone shattering, dark storm approaches.

The pellets of water hitting the boat, 

The cold wind tossing my hair about,

Is the only whisper in the sea.

Inside the snow globe, 

There was the unexplored, more to see

As I became eighteen years of age.

There’s friends and family

To keep me warm,

So why would I leave?

But then a spiderweb crack

Appeared on the snow globe

As the college chapter opened.

Same streets

New faces

From cities 200 miles away

300 miles away

Or even a thousand miles away.

They would leave and return

With tales from beyond city lines

Of patatas bravas in Spain

Of opportunities in the concrete jungle

Of blossom petals in Tokyo.

Each made the spider web crawl

Across the glass of the snow globe.

Crack

Crack

Crack

The world beyond the city lines

Is that first breath of air

After being in a stuffy room.

Crack

It’s the first touch of sunlight 

After being in a dark room for so long.

Crack

And maybe

That’s where I crave to be.

Crash