Hot Dogs and Trash
By Leigh Sackett
You are an assault on the senses,
Your volume exceeds way beyond 11.
As we rise from the train tunnels our heartbeats quicken to your pulse,
Not slowing until the rushing train reveals the forests of Virginia.
Please don't take offense,
I believe in honesty in relationships.
You arouse fear, excitement, fascination, disgust, and admiration,
But you are not mine, you are hers.
You have held her and shaped her as I have,
And we both have kept her safe and flourishing, despite ourselves.
Long before immigrants sailed to your shores, people have been beckoned to your beauty.
Your beauty has transformed over the centuries,
You are not the same creature from your days of infancy.
Humans claimed you and made you into every single thing they are,
As payback you hold their dreams, both igniting them and crushing them.
You hold every possible type of godly and ungodly creature in your burrowed fists,
Some have raced towards you, while others are imprisoned by you.
I am both grateful to you, and fearful of you,
As you hold my daughter softly and prickly while she follows her dreams like millions before her.
People call you a Godless place,
But I have seen God shine down your avenues and within your saints and sinners.
You make me smile and cringe,
As I explore like an eager toddler, and recoil like a startled kitten.
Thank you.
Keep my girl in your sights,
May her voice add to your volume and may her heart keep in time with your rhythm.
You are God's.
She is God's.
It's all God's.
Love to all of you! I miss you! Stay tuned for the next sabbatical adventure, on another island...but this time a quieter island off the coast of North Carolina.
-Leigh Sackett