u/DARBPR

White people
walking Christmas cards
sensible shoes
freshly pressed dungarees

All conversations are English

Well fed bucolic sheep

The planes
red white and blue
Gates E7 E8 empty

And people mocked—
memes of brawling passengers,
luggage tossed without care,
as if only at the Spirit gate

What they didn’t talk about

Abuelitos and Nietos
fluorescent luggage
empanadas eaten out of a Market Basket bag,
leftovers from Magda’s kitchen

Maybe home to Guatemala
or a well-earned weekend away
putos in Lauderdale
or home to mama in San Juan

I’d kill for a West Indian accent
yellow and black Airbus A320 outside the window

Energía
Vida
Pasión

To see the world
not just Palm Beach Airport

The pain is deep,

but integrated now.

It has settled into the core —

a steady, slow ache.

It surrounds the body

and the soul,

strengthening the whole.

Metabolized into my being,

my soul has taken the pain

and broken it down,

like proteins into amino acids,

rebuilding strength.

Prepared,

and preparing

for the next steps.

Capable of supporting

myself

and others.

This is what acceptance

looks like.