So I spent the week in Boone, in Kill Devil Hills, interstates, in between. I collected starfish and scrabble losses, found a charm bracelet at an antique store, found a washed up weather buoy (above) that stood at about 15-20 feet tall, found fear at the crest of a hill on some detour with a wall of cloud in front of us, tornado funnels peeking like fingers from its belly. We sang songs, Z. and I, kept each other entertained the whole 6 hours back and forth. We spent the last night in a hotel in Winston-Salem for fear of going towards eastern Tennessee where the tornadoes were apparently spawned. I ate alligator on the shore. I saw a wedding from a kayak on the Sound, heard the classical guitars wafting over the waves, watched in my bathing suit. I scraped my foot on a duck blind, the scar will be wicked. I got sunburn. I made promises, made sure.
I’m in a friend’s dorm room now, too tired to take the last 5 hrs today. I miss Z., who can blame me? Don’t know exactly when I’ll see him again (June, sometime). This is the last hurdle before we become short distance, become a solid item, become the unit that faces the future (apartments, baltimore, everything.)
He got me through a tornado with my head in my knees and my shoulders all shaking. He tells me things are alright, that they will be alright, don’t panic. He tells me I am beautiful. I pulled a spirit card (El. showed me her deck, I was quick to try it) that told me the tornado was a learning experience, learning how to open up and trust others, to not be so guarded.
I didn’t mean to go off on this tangent, or maybe I did. I’m more private than I let on, I think, guarded yes, but open. Mirah says it best:
you know all of my secret ideas
the ones i’m giving up on and the ones i’ll keep
and everybody sees a funny look in our eyes
cos we know that we already won the sweepstakes prizei ask you if you ever think that maybe
it’s what’s inside of us that drives us crazy
fingers feeling underneath your skin
there’s blood and bones and some rivers to fall ini’m so lucky cos i asked you once, ‘hey what are you doing?
do you wanna come up for a cup of tea?
come visit with me
we’ll play guitars and I’ll give you my numberi’d tell you why but i don’t know
it’s simple and so complicated
i could walk all day on the railroad tracks
but there’s much more to it than thatmirah – sweepstakes prize








