Hollowed Out

-
The street is dipped in a stream
of fading, weary, warm daylight.
Memories of autumn cloud my thoughts
as I stare at bright green, summer leaves
covering sparse pockets of
the Manila alleyway.
Faux pine cones dot the railings of
the building, unnaturally white,
          metallic, and cold.
It is nothing like the snow
I know from when I was young.
                  Yet all I know is gone,
a near-decade of moments collected
in what should be home.
A kaleidoscope of daydreams
                   roll, a setting of bare branches
and ankle-deep winter.
Deep breaths of sharp cold air
momentarily keep off the shiver.
Chicago winds bite into my cheeks,
           squinting just to see past the flurries.
I prepare to yell into the stark blue,
crystalline wintry sky -
The roar of obnoxious Manila traffic
           jolt me from further remembrance.
I'd rather be in my city than this metropolis.
                                All is dissonance, trains of thought
heading halfway around the world
to a windy city celebrating holidays
                        in a snowy season.
All other trains travel down
to a city that, for all sorts of reasons,
prides itself in relationships like gold.
                   There, it has been home
since I first stepped out
                    from the plane.
What's left is a dull pain,
my heart a set of puzzle pieces
in several places I know and love.
Above me is murky violet,
violently gripping me from
my meandering thoughts.
I step outside from the cafe
and the evening crowd.
             I'm here for now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a nostalgia poem! Hopefully the feelings get across~

Cheers!

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