Kinetics

I see beyond the shallow defenses; I know their intentions. But how helpless I am at their hands, their impulses carry me away like a rip tide in the middle of blissful summer, and I go gladly.

I know I keep pushing the boundaries, pushing the deadlines. I used to think this would change me, and now I wait for the next step to get me in line, he says as we both stumble into a bar, hungover from tequila shots and ready to be revived with beer sobriety. I sigh; I knew full well nothing would change with legal papers, with societal approval. But as I drag my exhausted body home in the early evening, I gaze at my glass house and return my pebbles to their pocketed safety. Who am I to shake my head? If I only make it to New York, I will have arrived, and why would I run from that?

My toes tingle. I make plans to move, to toss half my possessions and find somewhere new. I consider the neighborhoods, the streets, the boroughs. At the party, she asks me why I don't just stay in Australia after my vacation, why I would leave. Her question gnaws at me through the intoxicated mists, and I have no good answer. An entire continent spreads before me, vast deserts and clean slates. Perhaps I will find the answer there.

I long to scratch the itch, but I know full well I will leave unsatisfied. Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man. Although, of course, in the end.. wasn't he eaten, after all?