Call and Answer

I was in Tallahassee, Florida when I received the news that my grandpa had died. A year later, I spent the winter in Tallahassee while training for a marathon. The experience was a little eerie.

I’ve returned to you, Tallahassee,

as you knew I would

wide-eyed with dewy skin

baptized in mosquito bites

breathing perfumed air, heaving from

scents of sweet grass, sage and brush fire smoke

 

I’ve returned to you, Tallahassee,

your dense ghosts churning beneath

thick matted marshes

choked tangle of vegetation, the pulse

of earth thudding in my ears like

a drumbeat of ancient tides

 

You marked my absent space

in a hole punched forest

in a curtain of Spanish moss

I’ve returned to you, Tallahassee,

greenlocked, as a migratory bird

in winter

Reviews

[Scarlet M.]

A well written and concise piece. It had a nostalgic feeling to it. It was a great read! Thanks for sharing.