Don't Stay

This is a poem(?) idea that I have had for a while, and since I had a good time writing the last one (which I still have to revise), I figured I would write another. Enjoy!

If you don't, it really doesn't matter. I write this because I'm terrified that one day I will forget it all.

This took me like a month to put together. But in the end I rushed to publish it because I couldn't stand at looking at it any longer.

Don't Stay
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Don't stay in the same state that you went to for high school when you go to college.
You need to take this chance to explore somewhere new.


Don't stay at the same place for grad school where you did your undergrad.
People won't respect your degree as much.

I always thought that these ideas were bullshit.
Not the message to move on, but the premises they provided.

"This is my one chance to explore somewhere new?", I would scoff.
Bitch please, I can study abroad on the other side of the world if I want to.
I can take road trips across state lines, yelling out the name of each new place I visit.
And so I did. Out of defiance, rather than desire.

"Why the hell would I want to go anywhere else?"
Sure our city is number one in drug-related violence,
But MD is great for education and we legalized gay marriage.
Hell, our Governor could be the next president.

"They will respect my work, not my resume"
Though in this one I will concede defeat.
Because my vision is based on some idealist world,
where a man is judged not on the color of his skin, but the content of his works.

The real reason not to stay is because of overwhelming nostalgia.

Seeing familiar places brings back memories.

Tennis courts where I should have gone every week,
Coffee shops where I wasn't there for the coffee,
Lecture halls where sleeping students got higher grades,
Living rooms where we talked like philosopher kings,
Entire buildings devoted to missed opportunities.
I could build a bridge to Hawaii with the amount of sentimentality I feel sometimes.

But even if I leave, these places will still be a part of me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lyric of the Day: Coheed and Cambria - Here We Are Juggernaut

Keep your secrets in the dark
Nothing matters anymore
Body's breaking, drive me crazy
This is not your place
No, this is not your playground it's my heart
We were stupid, we got caught
But nothing matters anymore
So what? Here we are Juggernaut