Out of the Textbox Bumbles
From a writing sess with R.C. Taylor and Muchtar Suryawan, with thanks to Londzo’s “It Always Ends”
I return back to the strum of your voice
a lulling that gives me sustenance and a reason to go on
we are so lucky
that we get to hear each others voice regardless of time and space
my great grandmothers voice teases to escape me
with the smile in her wrinkly eyes saying
“maybe you should have been here more,
heard me more
been born earlier”
but i had not chosen the stolen land on which I’d grow on
like corn in a desert
mint in the snow drifts
and no I know that’s not an excuse to lose the ripple in your voice notes
but gosh
if only I was born earlier
or you later
how everything would be so different
though perhaps it wouldnt
like the sunsets would still chase sunrises
artichokes would still be weird
the smell of cheese melting would still make me nauseous
I swear these are not excuses
and yet
we’re constantly chasing what could have been
a kite crashing rather than remembering it’s contrast to the endless sky
i use the word endless too much
yet pray it will form like skin around your voice and give you shape again
even if in the shape of abutterfly
a bird
a dragonfly
something that would let you come to me
even though I keep living in all the extreme places
the journey, extreme for a butterfly too
perhaps that’s why your whisper travels on wind
Which swirls around the Atlantic and loses direction in the arctic
but every now and then, you make it to my dreams
And I think, how lucky we are
too have spent any time together at all
in your kitchen
at the table playing cards
walking together on Sokolov as you tell me that a lot of your friends are dead now but you still walk to your friends house three times a week to play cards
because at least you can
and I think
how lucky I am
to share this with you
even for a little bit
(Because at least I could
Even for a little bit )
About the Creator
Oneg In The Arctic
A queer storyteller and poet of arctic adventures, good food, identity, mental health, and more.
Co-founder of Queer Vocal Voices
Water is Life ✊

Comments (4)
There is a yearning to this piece that is hard to capture as a writer - well done!
priceless, Oneg
"yet pray it will form like skin around your voice and give you shape again" I especially loved that line!
Such a treasure. My grandmother taught me how to play Canasta. Saturdays after elementary school orchestra practice we'd play until mom came to pick me up.