The Heart That Longs Again

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

October 2008

shot on Canon

my boyfriend asked me if I wanted to live in his truck

I said yes

he asked me if I wanted beans cooked over a campfire

I said yes

he asked me if I wanted to stay up all night looking at stars

I said yes

I laid myself down to sleep

in the burn burn burn

of a life

that comes from saying yes yes yes

yes!—to life

yes!—to love

yes!—to light, all the light that lights you up

in the years that have since passed

I go back

time after time

sift through memories in my mind

searching for words

to describe the life, the love, and the light

that comes with the

burn burn burn

of a life lived as

yes yes yes

there are no words

just feelings of—

yearning

raging

crying

longing

seeking

living

loving

finding

they burn burn burn in my heart

the heart that longs again to cry

yes yes yes

***

Inspired by road trip (2008-2009) truck bed readings of Kerouac’s On The Road.