From Here to There

by Alexis Gomez (California, U.S.A.)

A white circle spray-painted on the sidewalk, reads “you are here.” A pair of pointy black shoes stands in the circle.

I am here

but sometimes I want to be at the point

where my body is still like

the photo from 2007 where I am four

laying on the living room carpet

holding my infant brother who’s drooling

and I am smiling and

I am healthy and

I have never known a life unlike this.

I am here.

Not like those

under a setting spring sun

warming their skin

unburned,

unlike

        my insides

                     eyes

                      mouth

                        scalp

                     lungs

                legs

       heart

ego.

I will get there

when I can say thank you

to my body for fighting

(itself)

to keep me alive

everyday.

Timelines are unpredictable.

I know I will get there because

I think of the future

I think about being in it

                                              laughing

                                              singing

                                              dancing

                                              admiring

                                              feeling

                                              appreciating

living.

I am here

for now

but I will get there.

(Photo by Fallon Michael on Unsplash)