Come in

Tell me of your trip

of memories gained

pictures taken

food eaten

Tell me of curries and roads I can’t pronounce

gates swinging

of your father’s stare

when he realized how much you look like him now

Tell me about mountains and city-scapes

hungry faces

yellow eyes and green irises

About your dream girl just there

Come in quick

Did his eyes swell with pride

or a glint of selfishness

wishing he was young again, undoing certain choices

Tell me about the train you missed

the mists over fields

the mansions and shacks

how the words jumbled around in your mouth before

now familiar

just easing out

Tell me of oceans

and time zones

animals

Speak to me until we are no longer strangers

but kin

establishing a reconnection

Do the men where you come from sway when they talk

Do the women where you come from shuffle their feet as they walk

and even though the stars are the same

if you tell me

that you laid there

under their luminous glow, wishing

I will know they must’ve been brighter than any stars

I have ever known