27. Fremont Farewell
one year ago today,
the lights
of Fremont Street
didn’t bother me
tequila & cherry sprite
lined the way through
zig zagged hallways,
we were lost in a pyramid
we sang along to our parents’
music & dodged tourists
who believed we were relatives,
laughing with security guards
who were cousins for the length
of an elevator ride, who were
glad we weren’t wasted, who
couldn’t wait to go home
I thought then that I was
more than ready to say goodbye
to this city, but wanted to
embrace it like a friend for once
but you can’t hold on to hell
too tightly, you can’t even see
what it’s doing to you until
your tunnel out is dug
I find it funny that
this is a place people escape
to & I’m counting down the
final days of my prison sentence
I can taste the tar pavement smell
when it gets too hot, it will haunt me
like the bum who cornered me, like
the cacophony that follows me
it will destroy sensory stability,
it will scream in the rearview,
it will occasionally call me back,
but I’ll be too far away to hear it
I’ll mistake every batch of lights
on every horizon for the pulse
of this place, but all will see
the relief, the revitalization,
the freedom from it on my face,
& the scars of stagnancy
will eventually fade away
like dusty bad memories
Image by D Thory from Pixabay
Thistle Thoughts 
Really beautiful poem Jennifer! Love the lines: ‘but you can’t hold onto hell too tightly’, ‘it will scream in the rearview’ and ‘but all will see the relief, the revitalization, the freedom from it on my face’. I hope the place you’re moving to is nice!
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Thanks, Dominic. It is very nice & more my scene.
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My pleasure Jennifer! That’s good to hear!
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Gosh, lovely words. The imagery just leads the way. You are so good. This one was tops.
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Thank you, Selma 🙂❤️
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Beautiful. Just beautiful. I get it- and so will my little sis. Thank you.
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked the poem.
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This is so beautiful!
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Thank you 🙂
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The perfect farewell. I feel lighter for you already…
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I’m already feeling so much better mentally because I’m so excited. ☺️
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Another powerful poem.
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