the youngest sailor

in another universe

we all live by the beach.

all eleven of us

in the same house

sharing the same blue sea-shell rimmed ceramic plates

with guitars leaning against our walls with textbooks peppered along the floors.

in another universe,

it’ll be late at night and we will all come home from our jobs, throw our bags on the floor, and see everyone’s shoes by the door.

i’ll come home to laughter,

the sweet, deep laughter of my friends, of a family i somehow found when i felt like i had none.

i’ll fall asleep, mid conversation with one of them.

i’ll wake up, and watch as the sunlight colors all of our faces.

in another universe,

we won’t have a dining table, no chairs, and no room for it either.

we will all eat on the living rooms coffee table

with scattered bowls of diced potatoes boiled and cooked in a loving array of warm spices

with a soupy, comforting egg curry and fried onions

with a sweet mango yogurt and warm, thin dosas.

in another universe i’ll eat, and i’ll remember what my english teacher said in class once,

that the act of choosing the people you eat with is a powerful and an intentional act of love.

in another universe, i will look through at our licked-clean plates and see religion.

in another universe i won’t write these kind of poems.

in another universe we make it farther than this.

we won’t talk about what the future will look like because we know we are each others future.

i won’t cry at the thought of how in two years and they’ll all be gone, building their beautiful lives.

in another universe we are all twenty forever - sitting crossed legged on the floor singing songs together.

in another world it’s us, and us till the end.