“The Déjà Vu of Love”

Art by Kate Ma

But it was the speckled stars drawn behind them that caught

My hands onto the glossy pages where the white ink was set.

I would always look up to try to find one twinkling spot.

But to a human eye, the city outshines the celestial sky.

I can catch the stars tonight.

Amongst them all, winks a steady light,

Shining brighter than the rest of the sky.

I close my eyes, and years ago

I saw a steady light that shone brighter than the rest of the sky.

It hung, waiting on the north side of the horizon.

Pointing to the city I left behind and would meet again.

I close my eyes and months ago,

I saw a steady light that shone brighter than the rest of the sky.

My friend tugged on my sleeve while I

Gaped up at the void that swallowed my heart whole.

I pointed up, “What kind of star is that, that doesn’t twinkle?”

Her gaze followed and she looked at me, her eyes a sparkle.

“No, no. Not a star…a planet.”

It was a planet.

A steady stone.

Another world waiting above the skyscrapers of my own.

She moved to the north last week, but I hope she’s never too far away.

While we wander new streets on repeat, the stars always stay.

The teacher called from ahead of the line,

And my friend’s brown hands poured into mines

And we ran together

Into the cool steady night.

A flash of a lit tunnel,

And I’m running under the streetlight,

Flickering on in the wake of my steps along the eastside.

The evening washed over the sky, matching my broad stride,

As my childhood best friend and I ran side by side,

Where a few hours ago,

I saw a steady light that shone brighter than the rest of the sky,

Coming from the projector, a jewel on the ceiling of the cosmos.

The pixelated specks converged into a distant planet,

Hovering above the hushed children in the darkened room.

The guides murmured next to us and the planet exploded.

The little lights that formed it would reassemble and zoom

Out into a galaxy

Of specks of controlled light fading away.

The ceiling dims back to dusty and gray.

Deja-vu

Another world

That you’ve already met before.

That childhood friend called me a few weeks ago,

While I watched the evening from the window.

The streetlights were dim, barely settling on the streets.

Every step we take in different paths settles on repeat.

And yet, we laugh and reminisce

through the widening space

our lives have taken.

When I cut the call, I saw the early stars breathe on the horizon,

And amongst them all, winked a steady light.

#poetry #growing #growingup #nostalgia #city #newyorkcity #teenager #teen #friendship #love #relationships #stars #space