hello

by fourth year Jordyn Faucette

hello fall hello winter hello global warming

hello hot october afternoons hello election year hello housing crisis hello 365 days of genocide hello

hello hello

the instinct lingers, mommy i wanna go home still sits on my lips at my grown age

where to go where to hide where to cower

mommy i want to come home

where to go where to hide where to cower

where when my childhood home was bulldozed for a shopping center my elementary school’s windows shot through my great grandmother's hometown underwater and my sister’s dog park a new tent camp

mommy where do I go

how ought I offer my hands and feet to the toil of a modernity almost spent?

hello fall hello winter hello global warming

hello hot october afternoons hello election year hello housing crisis hello 365 days of genocide hello hello hello

i have no reprieve to offer

i have nothing to advise

save

the croissants i ate at an english inn. they were covered in almonds and powdered sugar and the middle was smooth like chocolate

my chai order from jittery joes. the oak milk mixed with the vanilla and spice in the perfect way, not too hot or too cold

the necklace my momma used to wear. Its dull and tired, but the underside of the pendant is warn from the ghost of her fingers

save

the delicacies of being of loving

hello fall hello winter hello global warming

hello hot october afternoons hello election year hello housing crisis hello 365 days of genocide hello hello hello

my delicacies will not cure the winter ahead, will not quiet the screams, will not return the stolen

but they are the fire that warms my hands and feet, after a day at modernities behest

how warm how sweet how soft is the light of my fire, that calls me home and grounds my soul