halcyon days

The scenery speeds past as I gaze hazily out at the paraded exhibits on display in this moving museum, except I'm the one encased in glass. Familiar horizons gradually retreat into the distance as the long road winds on and rushes soundlessly beneath me, which will eventually bring me to an airport terminal where I'll get on my flight and forget about this life for a while. But in the meantime, my mind is filled by a distant sigh for all the alleyways I've never explored and other unopened doors; windows I've never had the privilege of peering out of; the streets my feet won't get to caress anymore. Above all else, I think I will miss the busy heat of this city - the sweat and grime that would cake my skin as I sit on flimsy plastic stools set haphazardly upon the fractured sidewalk; the bustling hubs of commerce, the faulty neon signage of seedy establishments trying to be trendy, the technicolor glaze of stolid stoplights; but also the sleepy nonchalance and cold fluorescence of night, stark white tubes that burnish people in flip-flops and shorts as they stroll about the streets in droves, carrying out daily life at their own relaxed pace, taking time to indulge in mundane pleasures - to dip their weary feet into cool waters.