excess baggage

Photo by Dovile Ramoskaite on Unsplash.

i left my shoes in Queens ‘cause they didn’t fit into my luggage

they had walked roads that didn’t take me anywhere

they had gone the long distance for no good reason

they had gotten unwanted and unwarranted comments about the way

i choose to walk through life

i left my jacket in San Jose ‘cause it didn’t fit into my luggage

it had fended off the cold of not having you

i had taken it off so you could hug me

i had put it back on to lock in place

the feeling of your hands against my skin

i left my heart in Brooklyn ‘cause it didn’t fit into my luggage

it was already broken and shattered and bruised

i left it strewn all over the poorly lit streets where our bodies

found each other like they had been

looking for each other their whole lives

i left my head in Addis ‘cause it didn’t fit into my luggage

it had made so many poor choices

it kept running away from you and then wondering

why you were running away from me

and still

we kept running into each other every time

i left my memories in Brussels ‘cause they didn’t fit into my luggage

drowned in a pool of gin and wine

tried to run a car over them at full speed

tried to force me into forgetting you

i left my skin in Philly ‘cause it didn’t fit into my luggage

tried to get someone to get your scent off of it

washed it away with soap and with tears

and with rum and with cocktails and with rain

i left my good faith

all tangled up around the Empire State like a flag flown at half-staff

mourning

the death of all the things

that were never meant

to fit.