New Lease

Life
as fresh and clean
as an apartment on new lease
professionally cleaned, maybe
or the work of earnest hands
polished with elbow grease

Today
is a new day
even if it starts on a bedroom floor
with a sleeping bag, folded sweatshirt
nothing more.
Sunlight distilled in the morning
out the window
fresh air hangs
eternally.

What pieces of the past
should be unpacked?
Maybe I’ll just take them out as I need them.
Plates, silverware, courage
and a faith in the future.
What’s for breakfast today?
Jam and toast, coconut lentils
a little time with colored pencils.
Can I draw a new picture on a blank page
or does muscle memory carry the way?

Doesn’t feel like travel
first day in a new town
suddenly what I wear means something
all my ambitions
feel a little watered down

I moved past everything
to find myself here
I said goodbye to everyone
to say “hello, my name is”
What kind of character
enters the life of this place?

The tense has changed
in my mind’s timeline
no longer wondering
who will I be,
what will I become
Just trying to answer:
Who am I now-
now that all that is done?