An Exercise of the Senses: Pick A Memory

It started with a sense of shyness,
carefully layered with false bravado
that didn't fill the empty seats at
your table that first night.

It progressed into days that blurred
together; overexposed and washed out
by sunlight and heat, shaded with various hues
of laughter and the sense of belonging.

The days became endless, indistinct
and strung together by inside jokes,
moved along by ever cooling winds that tugged
at your hair and blew summer's dust from your clothing
as it sent the leaves dancing, carrying your laughter back home.

Days turn to weeks and weeks to months
FallWinterSpring
You spend them running through rain to catch
buses and lounging on stone steps as you describe
grandiose dreams that are forgotten by time
curfew is called.

Friday nights settle into a comfortable routine,
flavored by takeout long forgotten in favor of a
a movie and too sweet soda-
sugar buzzing in your
veins with laughter as intoxicating as alcohol.

It ends in boxes and the scent of bleach,
your belongings and papers carelessly shoved away
and crammed into the back of the car for the return
ride home.
The bitterness of parting hid away under the excitement
of another adventure- vibrant and cotton candy sweet.

You expect to do it all again next year.