Left My Heart At Rowe,

leaving a certain summer camp in Massachusetts where i feel so incredibly wonderful because the community is magical and going home is really leaving home. see also my poem "The End."

 

Left my Heart at Rowe,

 

my home.

Forgotten

when all else was

in the front of my mind:

shoes, sleeping bag, shirts and shorts,

all tucked away

neatly

into an oversized transparent Tupperware

and tan canvas bag.

Knew it would happen

long before it did

(just as the psychic

sees the shots

she can’t stop)

the inevitable,

can only try

to ignore.

 

Driving away,

almost visible

in the depressed drizzle

trickling from the sky

as leftover tears from my eyes.

Sitting alone

abandoned

on the front porch of the rec hall,

site of so many mental sparkles,

still pulsating

protesting the fact of its parting

with the body it belonged to;

striving to lure life

through the cells

that left it behind.

Plan to stop,

pick it up, peacefully

hold it in hand,

put it in its place,

back inside.

 

Plans are for fools.

The time to talk

has transpired.

Know

that there will be a hole,

a gaping hole

felt with every wandering thought.

Know

that the sacrifice

that must be made

to be honestly at home

and be ripped away

before you’re ready

is a wound

(mortal?)

that won’t completely heal

for what seems like

forever.

Author's Note

Rowe, for those of you who are not enlightened, is the awesome summer camp (or "hippie camp," as we rowies call it) that i go to. any rowies out there will understand. if you haven't been to rowe, i can't really explain just how wonderful it is. let's just say that i cried not once, not twice, but SEVEN TIMES during my last two days before leaving this past summer.

Reviews

[Satchmo's Gal]

Aww.. I want to go to this camp! You've convinced me. I loved this poem. It's fantastic. Exspecially the title. I left my heart at Rowe. So beautiful.