Scranton (Survivor Poem)

The paradise I never been to and have no desire to visit.

It always seems to lie just in the middle
Of wherever I’ve going
And wherever I’ve been.

It’s a bottomless pit, a dead end street
Of second guessing; which way should I go?

Should I even bother leaving?

It takes a mountain of courage
To drive down into the valley
Only to have to climb back up again,

A paradoxical pleasure of sweet sugar and tangy lime lemonade
In knowing the glass is half full
And yet half shattered
Against the smoke-ridden sky
And the deep gray exterior that dulls all light to come across it.

But I am the survivor.
I will hearken to the journey’s cry
And leave the pit of my despair,

For I am here. Now.