we let these valleys run deep in our veins with no questions anymore. it has become second nature to know these winds, to hear the song the leaves sing before a storm rolls over the hills on the other side of the county.
i always thought my eighteenth year would be the last i would know the rustle of the pampas grass in the early morning or the way the snow settles deep over everything beyond our property. now twenty-three draws nearer quicker than a younger version of me could have ever imagined and i feel it tightening in my chest with each passing day, that small town desire to find the things i've been left out of for two decades.
mama used to say i had the universe in my bones, told me she thought i would explode from it, said just yesterday that there is a longing inside me that she doesn't think will ever be tamed. i never thought the midwest sun could hold me, yet i keep bowing at her feet, keep begging her to swallow me. maybe if i stay a while longer it will be enough to carry with me.