My Clothes Fit Me Now

How does one long for the future,

Yet cannot loosen the grip of the past?

 

Twenty-two came just as fast as twelve had gone.

I keep my room empty on one side,

Paying homage to my first friend,

A friend I get to call brother.

 

I lay on the floor of my first apartment, trying to figure out

when my clothes started to fit.

 

When did their stains go away?

When did they all go away?

 

These aren’t the oversized, shoyu stained hand-me-downs from my older siblings,

These are all mine.

These are all

 my stains.

 

My clothes fit me now.

Why does that scare me?

When did their rooms stop being down the hallway and start being

across the ocean?

 

The past has passed, keep your gaze forward.

I’ll trip if I keep looking back.

 

I’m twenty-two.

My clothes fit me now,

 

But I miss when they didn’t.