Poem: JNJL

Poem written by my younger brother, Luke, for a poetry slam.

Suppose my home is the space in between a headrest

One that offers no prospect of sleep

Because memories and meaning

Are the only things that collide

at an altitude this steep

The engine growls, the plane takes off but i’m nowhere near

My thoughts glide through traffic under the Chicago city lights

The ones that make you forget about the moon

But when the morning comes,

So too does the silence that absorbs the arabic desert nights

What is family, what is it not

Where does it start, where does it end

I realize these questions don’t have answers

As my flight begins it’s gentle descent

The notes on our pages tell not the story of ourselves,

But the stories of others

Because that is what it is like to be apart

Of a family

A family that is separated by space

But attached by heart