Zoey Gallagher

if i never feel at home again then at least let me experience the world

i’ll touch the moon in many puddles, ponds and puddly ponds

i’ll see places where all seasons change and some without any 

i’ll watch leaves fall and dogwoods grow and meet people whose gossip I can’t understand 

i’ll seek refuge in the unknown and never expect the unexpected

i’ll see you in strangers 

i’ll wear pokodots with stripes and black with blue and i’ll strip nude in locker rooms meant for changing

i love men with old toyota tacomas and long scruffy beards 

the kind that own UV rated shirts and always have a pocket knife somewhere handy  

i’ve never counted stars, only marveled at their infinity 

I have wished on them, for what? i don’t know and for when? I couldn’t tell you 

i have counted sheep, and coins, and the freckles on my face, once

but i’m sure there are more now

sometimes i feel afraid but then i just remember thats only when i dont know what to know and i never will until i do so i cherish that fear because someday it’ll just be another familiarity and a new spot that feels a little like a home

snails are the rvs of the creature world and yet they always leave a trail behind them 

the gelatinous snail rail, an around the world 

ticket, with a homesickness free special 

i’ll probably never feel at home again but i’ve also never counted stars or tried stuffed olives or cried during a baseball game

i’ve never attempted a backflip or won a prize in a school science fair 

i get mad when i find myself wishing for time to go by faster or at the thought of lightning bugs going extinct

back when i played soccer i’d bargain for a defensive position so I could spend more time looking at the yellow flowers that discreetly sprinkled the field 

and i always wished for games to end as a tie 

i only feel lonely around other people 

and i haven’t been back home in a long time

but whenever i miss it ill look for something familiar like the moon 

in all the ponds, puddles, and puddly ponds Ill find along the gelatinous snail rail.